Orenji
by Feilan
Summary: ツ When an Uchiha speaks, you listen. When an Uchiha offers their hand in friendship, you take it. When an Uchiha wants something, they will have it. So why does his foolish blonde dobe of a neighbour refuse him time and time again? The only logical answer - The boy must be crazy, he just never knew that this craziness could be contagious. SasuNaru, ItaNa. Tragic love, happy ending.
1. Prologue I: Mission Orange

**Orenji**  
ツWhen an Uchiha speaks, you listen. When an Uchiha offers their hand in friendship, you take it. When an Uchiha wants something, they will have it. So why does his foolish blonde dobe of a neighbour refuse him time and time again? The only logical answer - The boy must be crazy.

Disclaimer: I own nothing in the Naruto Universe.

**A/N**: For those who find it hard to grasp what the actual plot is about, read the extended summary, but before that, **Fasten your Seat-belts**, lean back and get comfortable, and remember to always keep yourself hydrated with a drink nearby!

**Extended Summary:**

_Prologue_

Sasuke Uchiha is an eight year old boy, and antisocial loner, living a life of boredom with riches, a better-knowing brother and a father who is never home. One day new neighbours move in next to them and Sasuke decides to make his blonde neighbour his very first friend. However Naruto Uzumaki has something to say about that because he does not want any friends. Angered by his refusal Sasuke starts spying on the blonde and he quickly learns that his shy-looking, timid blonde dobe of a neighbour has many secrets to keep. Why does Naruto not go to school? Why is he always so pale? And is his snake-like bankrobber-guardian as evil as he looks or does it have something to do with Naruto's four-legged imaginary friend?

_After the prologue - **Spoiler**!_

The raven-haired Uchiha is in for more than he can handle, when he despite all odds manages to make friends with his dobe, but it all ends when Naruto mysteriously disappears, and only Sasuke remembers who Naruto is. Eight years later, the latest hot model Sasuke finds himself still thinking of the boy, until one day Naruto reappears. Too bad for Sasuke though, because Naruto has forgotten who he is. What is wrong with Naruto?

**Overall Warnings**: AU, Controlling!Sasuke, Demon!Naruto, Timeskip, Past lives and thousand year old fox demons. Memory lapses of Naruto's past life in the Ninja-verse. Don't read if you have a short attention span, the story is long and contains underlying plots, so turn around** if you can't handle something different** from a typical highschool story/Naruto-Sasuke gets famous story/Nonsense romance with lemons each chapter story, because this isn't one of those and that isn't the main focus. There will be romance, lots of it.

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**Orenji**  
Ch. 1  
- Mission Orange

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His brother was looking for him.

If only Itachi had not been the control freak that he was, Sasuke might have had enough understanding to indulge and not make his brother look bad in front of their father and the Harunos, but as it so would happen, after being woken up to the sound of a kunai impaling his bed poster, he was in not in one of the most empathetic moods after all.

So he ran all he could as if his life depended on it. Luckily the backdoor wasn't locked so he could easily slip out and find somewhere to hide in the gigantic garden surrounding the main house. The mansion had been built in two tiers and the garden encased the building perfectly, his routes to freedom were endless. All Sasuke knew was the first tier because his father and Itachi had sealed the second floor off leaving Sasuke as the odd one out with all their secret rooms. His older brother had always had a secretive side to him, which annoyed Sasuke to no end, because it didn't just amount to secret activities, he had to make everything into a fucking riddle, no clear responses to the things he wanted to know ever came from his brother's mouth, instead all he got useless words that held only one purpose - to confuse.

Make no mistake, Sasuke was smart.

No actually, Sasuke was a secret _genius_. He had long ago figured out what Itachi and their father kept hidden upstairs. In those secret rooms were invaluable, nostalgic artefacts from a time long passed. These relics that has belonged to the Uchiha clan, through thousands years of generations, were the proof of his family's lineage. The Uchiha family had once been a great, esteemed Clan holding both political and military power equal to the feudal lords of their time. Although a child, Sasuke understood the importance of these relics and why his father kept them hidden. He had great respect for the history tied to it all, but what he couldn't accept was that _Itachi_ was allowed to be a part of it and he was not.

Sasuke loved the tales of their ancestors more than Itachi and also possessed an adventurous side to him, that was why Sasuke used to borrow Itachi's possessions and dig them down in the garden, where-after he would draw a nice colourful treasure map that he could neatly place on Itachi's pillow. His older brother had laughed it off, and gone on treasure hunts with Sasuke as his trusty but mischievous guide, who were leading them safely through the dangers of the sandbox-desert and life-threatening wildlife in the vast rain-forest - which was really just some rows of strawberries and bamboo, but not to Sasuke and Itachi.

In the recent years though, Itachi had problems with his imagination, he could no longer seem to make much sense of Sasuke's drawings. Not long after, his father had given his brother the room on second floor, where Sasuke couldn't go to snatch anymore of Itachi's belongings, and the treasure hunts stopped and the secrets began.

Itachi was only five years older than Sasuke but now it felt like an age difference of fifteen years instead of five. His brother had begun to understand the basics of their business and often joined their father in meetings and conferences. Of course Sasuke wasn't the least bit jealous of his brother's prowess or position though, since Sasuke himself had no interest in becoming his father's slave in order to take over Uchiha Corp. What did annoy him though was how Itachi with his high standards had left scarce room for Sasuke to ever challenge him in anything, his brother was simply too perfect at everything he did, so much so that Sasuke could only be seen as useless in comparison. He was unnecessary because he wasn't the famous prodigy son, which Fugagku's business partners would try to marry their daughters off to in order to get into Fugaku's good graces. Part of him enjoyed being the black sheep, however his pride told him he could do better, but did he not need his father's acceptance. Sasuke didn't need anybody.

Aside from being a genius Sasuke was still only eight years old, and there were still things he stubbornly allowed himself to not understand, mostly the tiresome, dull and samey things of course. At any rate his family treated him like an idiot anyway, so why not act the role of one?

So that's what he did. How could Itachi expect him, an idiot, to _understand_ why he should humour Sakura Haruno, simply to please her parents. Sakura was _irritating_ and could be downright creepy, at least whenever she saw Sasuke. In all honesty the youngest Uchiha didn't really like to socialise despite the amount of calls his family got for play dates and parties. The death of his mother had left him changed, he didn't seem to mourn that much but his pain showed in his need for solitude and silence. Sasuke wasn't like other children, he had never talked much to begin with, but these days he seemed to live in his mind habitually.

Swift and nimble, Sasuke eyed a wooden tool-shed facing the fence to the neighbouring garden. There were some stacked boxes near its left side. He pushed the restacked boxes carefully, aligning them to make small steps like a steep staircase and climbed to the shed's roof where he threw himself down flat. Willing his breathing to calm, he forced a few deep inhalations before scouting the vivid surroundings from his hiding spot.

"Sasuke!" His brother called, but Sasuke covered his ears and laid there still as a mouse, no one seeing him would have imagined how loudly his heart was currently pounding in his chest. "You can't keep doing this, father will have problems with the Harunos if you ignore Sakura like this."

Forcing himself to calm down he tried to clear his mind, but without luck. He shuddered at the thought of the pink haired girl who had only minutes prior, touched his hand. That disgusting girl had touched him with her sweaty hands; he couldn't imagine anything more disgusting than that girl and her creepy eyes that would just stare at him non-stop. Sasuke did a quick roll and could now face the neighbour's garden whilst Itachi searched for him in vain, and vain it definitely was, because Sasuke had found something to focus on.

Next door, a big lorry was rumbling as it noisily backed up into a narrow parking spot in the overgrown garden, and the fact that the driver didn't massacrate a few of the wild-growing plants in the process was a feat by itself. The raven had no recollection of any neighbours ever living there, and he had always been praised for his photographic memory and pervasive eye for detail. They hadn't had any neighbours for years, Sasuke was sure. He looked over the smaller villa that could be regarded as out of place mainly because it was right beside his own much bigger home. The two houses next to each was like day and night, and he remembered that his father had complained about that house still being in the neighbourhood, - during the neighbourhood get-togethers - more than a few times.

An oxford blue car followed behind and parked behind the lorry, and the car door was opened to reveal a man in a black, white-striped suit with a stiff posture. The man looked like a poisonous snake, with his shoulder length silver hair in a tight slick ponytail with bangs framing a pale face along with those slit-like creepy eyes, _and_ he was carrying a briefcase full of deadly weapons of all sorts – what else could he have there after all? - Maybe he was an evil bank robber.

Sasuke wondered if he should tell his big brother about their new evil neighbours, but quickly remembered why he was hiding. Itachi would just get in the way, so Sasuke decided that _he_ would spy on their new neighbours, and felt a strange excitement when the man opened the backseat door and hauled out a blonde boy, who didn't look too keen on being here from the way he resisted the pull.

The little boy looked slightly shorter and thinner than himself, the youngest Uchiha noted and briefly glanced at his own pale skin to compare it better to the little blonde's brilliant sun kissed body. The other boy was only clad in a pair of horribly orange knickers and a plain white t-shirt with blue sandals, such simple clothing, just like that poor boy in class who smelled like dogs. The Uchiha huffed annoyed, deciding that the boy – Orange, yes he would call him Orange – was ugly. Not just because he was poor and probably - _definitely_ - smelled like dirt but also because he looked so docile and timid, what a dobe.

Sasuke hated seeing pathetic and submissive children like these, who felt so irritatingly _sorry for themselves_, he had enough of those sheep in his class and they had no real personality whatsoever. All they could do was _bah-bah_ all day and follow their leader mindlessly. Only problem was that this so-called leader happened to be whoever could yell the loudest, someone like that Sakura girl. Now, all that would be fine if her and the other sheep would just leave him the fuck alone. Like that was ever going to happen, but it wasn't Sasuke's fault that no one else in school looked as good as him. That, and his family's money, most of them had yet to understand the power of money though.

Orange looked nervous and was hugging a soft red, worn-out toy animal so hard that the filling in it was pushed towards the plushie's head. Sasuke scowled, identifying the toy as a fox. Sasuke had never relied on stuffed animals for comfort, it was too childish. It all annoyed Sasuke so much that he wished he could just expunge that hopeless expression off with a good solid punch, but upon further thought, it would probably not go as planned, a crying Orange would be just as pathetic. After his initiate annoyance had calmed he changed his mind again, when his dark eyes locked on the blonde's eyes of the most brilliant azure blue. No, perhaps those eyes were more like a sapphires after all, they were sparkling so fiercely with life-force and a strong unbendable will. Orange's body language was submissive but Sasuke could see it was a cover, the blonde was no pushover. Perhaps that blonde boy was a bit appealing after all.

Mr. Snake walked up to the lorry where a moving man and his partner had just stepped out and started talking heatedly whilst waving his arms with that infuriated look Sasuke's father would get when a servant had displeased him. Was Mr. Snake concerned about how the strangers would manhandle his precious possessions? Sasuke gulped as he thought of the bombs, and explosives that might be hidden away there. In movies bombs were always sensitive to sudden impacts, heat and friction. Itachi said movies were over exaggerating and Sasuke prayed that his brother was right.

Meanwhile the dangerous goods were unloaded slowly, and carefully, Orange peeked around curiously and eyed the weedy garden with grass easily reaching his shoulders. The boy waded right through the high grass clumsily, to get a better look around. There was an apple tree with a swing near the fence that ran parallel with the Uchihas lot.

Sasuke had unconsciously leaned a bit over the edge of the roof to get a better look at the boy standing not so far from him now, so he had to grip onto the edge of the roof to keep enough balance to not fall down into the neighbour's garden and possibly, right in front of Orange.

The blonde heard a sound and quickly glanced up at the shed facing their fence and unkempt bushes. There was nothing to see, except a couple of fingers, desperately clinging onto the roof but before the boy could ask who was there, his guardian had called him.

"Boy, get in! We have work to do!" The snake rasped angrily. "Don't think you can just run off and be lazy..."

Sasuke's brows furrowed in confusion at the way his new neighbour spoke to his son. What kind of father was he? He admitted his father could be strict and sometimes unbearable but he always showed a certain level of respect for his family at least. Did that mean the snake wasn't Orange's father? Then where were the boy's real parents if not here with him?

Sasuke stiffened as he felt a hand encircle his ankle, announcing the presence of a certain someone. "Sasuke…the Harunos have left. I think it's time for you to get down." Itachi said, in his usual manner of speaking, neither angry nor happy. His brother knew him too well. "And Sasuke... Father wants to see you in the dojo."

That couldn't be good, the raven thought. So annoying.

He cast a last glance at the blonde's dejected frame walking hastily towards the shabby villa's ragged porch to follow Mr Snake who glared at him from the doorway. Then he jumped down and faced his brother.

"I found something interesting, brother." The small raven declared with an usual display of excitement, earning a chuckle from his stone-faced brother. What could have possibly made his antisocial little brother so excited, when the boy clearly preferred seclusion to human company?

"Have you made a friend?" Itachi asked softly.

"Yes, but we have not had the chance to speak yet, he just moved in." Sasuke smirked, confidently. Like a true Uchiha. That Orange would be his.  
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The wooden chopsticks were pushed to the side after Sasuke set his bowl down, silently letting his family know he was done with breakfast.

"Sasuke."

It was his father.

"You have only had one bowl, aren't you hungry?" His father asked in his steely tone, his eyes void of emotion. His youngest son's recent behaviour had started to become somewhat of a bad habit. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, Sasuke only had one portion and then he excused himself to leave. Normally the stoic Uchiha never bothered to reprimand the boy on etiquette but these days, his son had changed, and a change he didn't know origin of, wasn't welcome.

"It must be the summer heat, father. I hardly feel hungry." The smaller boy's obsidian eyes, glinted with an impatience befitting of the child he was, he knew then that his lie had worked once again. "Can I go now?"

Fugaku would let it go once more. Seldom had he seen his son this enthusiastic about something since his mother had passed away. "Ok, but be back by noon."

Sasuke nodded and left in a hurry to get back to his mission.

Outside the weather was sunny and the air exceptionally humid. He had a feeling that today was the day to execute his plan. He dug through his secret path into the large bush and stopped up when he heard a childish giggle from the weed garden. Over the past few weeks Sasuke had found himself out in the garden again, and again, trying to catch a glimpse of his blonde neighbour, but the child hadn't left the house yet, except for when he had to get the mail. But today was different, the car was gone meaning his guardian was out robbing banks. The Raven felt a bit sorry for the banks, but quickly dismissed the feeling when the blonde came into view.

Orange giggled as he crawled into a bush near the fence that separated the gardens. A spot of orange poked out, revealing his barely concealed neighbour, who was not just terrible at Hide and Seek but also way too loud to not be found, so who was he playing with anyways? Sasuke had not seen any other kids around.

Narrowed dark eyes watched attentively as the blonde fell out of the bush with a loud thump before rolling around on the ground in fits of laughter. It had almost looked like something had pushed the boy, but Sasuke did not get to ponder further as the boy sat up smiling at a grassy spot and started talking to the air.

"Kurama is too fast for me!" The blonde complained but the brilliant smile never left his twinkling azure eyes as laid down in the grass near the fence.

_Kurama_? Sasuke raised an eyebrow as realisation dawned on him. His poor neighbour had become so lonely that he had created a fantasy friend. The raven-haired Uchiha found that he pitied the blonde a bit. His hiding spot was getting uncomfortable so he carefully shifted to and took a deep breath as the winds changed, bringing along a strong whiff of flowers he didn't know the name of.

"It is sad we must cut the grass." The child commented to his invisible companion. "I like it better long and there are a lot of wild growing flowers here."

The blonde sighed almost looking tired but the next second the boy promptly pointed at the sky with a wide grin." Ohhhhh! Kurama! Kurama! See that cloud! It looks kind of like you!"

Sasuke looked at the sky and couldn't make out any cloud that looked the least bit human, all there was seemed to be a smaller cloud strangely formed like some four legged animal with sharp ears and a distorted looking tail, or perhaps many tails? Was the boy trying to communicate with some dead pet of his?

"One tail? No no, that is definitely multiple tails!" The child exclaimed loudly before stretching his lithe body, Sasuke knew now for sure, he was taller than his neighbour, and smirked to himself, feeling like he had won some competition. The blonde was wearing the same pair of bright orange shorts and loose white t-shirt as the first time Sasuke had seen him, leaving his arms, legs and feet exposed to the sharp sun. The child's skin was so tan though, so Sasuke doubted the other would have to use sunscreen whenever he went out like Sasuke was forced to by an overprotective brother.

"I wish I was like you." The boy pouted, giving a displeased look. "I want to grow up fast, so we don't have to live with Kabuto anymore."

Sasuke noted the name down in his mind and linked it with the snake man who seemed to be the boy's distant relative or guardian rather than his brother or parent.

The blonde boy turned to look at the empty spot of grass next to him and stroked the air with a small chubby hand.

"This girl told me that gingers have no soul." The blonde teased the invisible person, and indirectly let Sasuke know that his friend was a redhead. "But I still wish I looked more like you, so… feel special Kurama!" He announced happily with that pure bright smile, once again changing his face.

"What? I don't know, some kids just say dumb things like that, I know you have a soul silly!" The blonde assured the invisible friend, but his expression soon changed to one of concentration as he looked around the garden as if searching for something, before looking back at the grass. "Where?"

It took a moment for Sasuke to register what was going on as, bright azure eyes fixated on him, or at least the spot in the bushed where he was currently residing. The blonde kid had seen him.

"Hello! Who is there?" The blonde knew then that he had startled whatever creature was hiding inside the bush because the thing instinctively crawled back towards the fence causing the bush to rustle and swish.

Apparently not willing to let Sasuke get away the blonde darted into the bush with full force and accidentally managed to knock the other boy out on the ground. The boy looked surprised as he felt the warm cushion beneath him shift and groan in pain, before two small but strong hands pushed him off brutally. The Raven glared as the blonde stared at him wide-eyed, showing no sign of anger on his goofy face. Perhaps the boy was too awestruck at seeing him - just like the other kids – to form any comprehensive thoug-. "Why were you hiding in the bushes?" Scratch that. So damn, straightforward.

Sasuke ignored Orange and stood up to dust himself off, and felt a stinging in his side where a branch had stabbed him, when the blonde goof had landed on top of him.

"Hey, I was talking to you…" The other boy pouted not yet showing any sign of enmity.

"It's none of your concern Ora-Dobe." Sasuke mumbled, not willing to use his nickname for the boy after all. That seemed to spark the blonde's anger, but the boy closed his eyes and mumbled something to his left side, and calmed himself enough to not get physical. Something about this boy told Sasuke that ruffling his feathers was more than easy, and that irrational anger that could spark from seemingly nothing entertained the raven immensely, he hadn't felt so good in a long time, and all because of his crazy new neighbour.

"Dobe? Who do you think you are, you don't even know me, and you hide in our bushes, _that_ makes it MY concern, stupid teme." The blonde yelled, his sapphire eyes more dazzling than ever with their fierce blue shine looking at him. Yes, he liked to have the boy's undivided attention, Sasuke smirked amusedly, he would keep calling the blonde a dobe, given the nice reaction it provided. He now had the other boy in the palm of his hand.

"I came because I heard a retard yelling at himself. Who are you talking with anyways, Dobe? Some imaginary friend?" Sasuke retorted back not willing to back down and admit that he had been spying. He couldn't let his cover be blown. Uchihas as a past ninja clan shouldn't have to explain their actions, and especially not to dobe-y blondes. Somehow though he felt like he had been too harsh this time, but it just wasn't in his nature to be nice.

"Don't insult Kurama, he is not imaginary, he is real!" Orange growled, looking ready to hit the other boy. "And my name isn't dobe you bastard teme! It is Naruto!"

Sasuke's porcelain face remained inexpressive, whilst his inner self, analysed and saved all the information about the boy he could. Now he had a name for the boy. Naruto. Personality traits? Easily excitable, dramatic, simple-minded, and fiercely loyal – because he defended and fully believed in his imaginary friend. And he knew... Naruto wanted a friend. A real friend. Sasuke was about to make him one lucky dobe.

"Hn, I see. My name is Sasuke Uchiha, I will allow you to be my friend from now on. So stop talking to air already."

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Itachi opened his eyes.

Tiles covered the dark arched ceiling and upon the tiles were painted with cloudlike patterns of red and black outlined thinly by white. His eyes, dwelled in the darkness of the room, and the pain seemed to almost disappear.

The room was only very dimply lit at one end, but the light was not strong enough to dispel the shadows that clung to his bed, like a protective shroud. Footsteps came from the long hall outside, notifying him about the presence of the doctor. He counted the steps it took the small man to get from the staircase to his room, and felt the change in the dancing light as a figure appeared in the doorway.

"Fugaku called me this morning, asking me to come and do our regular check-up." The man finally said. "If you don't mind?"

"Come in." Itachi said, feeling exhausted and tired already, but he willed himself to sit up on the edge of the bed.

The man pulled a small chair over to the bed and placed it in front of his patient, before taking his seat and putting the bag on his right side. As the man flicked on the bed lamp, Itachi winced and his eyes instantly burned like they had been lid on fire. The man used his thumb to lift the eye lid up further to get a better look.

After a minute of excruciating pain between the man's hmm and mhh's, the doctor finally released his lid, and Itachi instantly closed his eyes.

"No improvement, I'm afraid." The man stated matter-of-factly.

"I understand." The older Uchiha brother muttered and put on a pair of round shades and so he could rest his eyes. "How much longer…? Surgery is out of the question."

"It is hard to say, it all depends on so many factors-"

"..." Itachi wasn't in the mood for these talks anymore. His eyes were failing on him and all he wanted was a general idea of how much time he had.

"One month, perhaps 3 weeks, give or take." The doctor finally said. "I'll let your father know."

The doctor got up and left, but as he did, they both heard a door banging like a wild donkey was on the loose somewhere downstairs.

_Slam_.

"Sasuke…" Itachi mumbled as he heard another banging noise.

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Several doors in the house were being slammed. The servants looked confused and unsure of what to do in this situation, but upon seeing young master Itachi, they sighed in relief. Few people could talk reason into the youngest Uchiha, but Itachi could.

After a few hours Itachi had managed to drag Sasuke out for lunch, but the smaller Uchiha scowled whilst stiffly stabbing the untouched food on his plate.

Sasuke growled angrily, imagining some person he hated being the omelette on his plate, as he stabbed and twisted the fork extra hard, making that chilling, ear-splitting noise, that even had Sasuke shivering. Itachi was giving him _that _look again. The I-will-just-stare-till-you-spill-all-your-secrets stare. A few minutes went by in silence, Sasuke couldn't give his brother such an easy victory.

"Your birthday is coming up." Itachi said out of nowhere. Sasuke stopped stabbing the same piece of omelette for a few seconds, before going back to killing his food.

Sasuke didn't like celebrating things like birthdays. Even worse was his own birthday, it was awkward and forced and he simply didn't want to go through the hassle of talking with a bunch of strangers. But his brother knew how he felt about this so why did he comment on it? Sometimes Itachi could almost read his mind. Like now.

"My point being, that instead of hosting a party we could invite your new friend over for the weekend."

The silverware made a clinging noise as it fell on the plate.

"He is not my friend." Sasuke's eyes burned with anger.

"Did the two of you fight?"

"…no"

"Some people are different from…Sakura and the others who naturally take a liking to you." Itachi started. "But those people are also the ones who are worth the trouble."

Sasuke would have listened under normal circumstances but the blonde really got to him, he had never experienced such anger over rejection. How dared he to reject Sasuke! And whilst laughing with those blue eyes, that Sasuke liked. The dobe had thought it was a joke and laughed at him. The blonde had told him that all he needed was this _Kurama_. Kurama this, Kurama that. Naruto was picking a mere imaginary friend over Sasuke? Preposterous. He could still see those blue eyes in his mind suddenly looking at him with guilt when he had realised that Sasuke was not kidding.

"_I do not want any friends, stupid teme."_

Was this Naruto worth the trouble? Itachi said he was. Sasuke sighed; there was only so and so much disappointment a child could handle in one day. He would rather just forget about his idiotic neighbour, who was probably no fun at all, to play with. Naruto was too expressive for Sasuke's liking anyways. And those whisker marks on his face, they weren't even cute or anything, even worse was that fool's ridiculous smile that reached his bright warm eyes. Why was he so happy with being alone anyways?

What had Sasuke been thinking trying to befriend this rude, boisterous blonde dobe…

Sasuke hadn't been thinking at all, clearly. Just like now when all he saw was that blonde's puzzled face when he had first seen Sasuke in the bushes.

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**TBC**

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Edited on 7/11/2013


	2. Prologue II: In his blood

**Orenji**  
ツWhen an Uchiha speaks, you listen. When an Uchiha offers their hand in friendship, you take it. When an Uchiha wants something, they will have it. So why does his foolish blonde dobe of a neighbour refuse him time and time again? The only logical answer - The boy must be crazy.

Time skip will be upcoming, in a few chapters.

Warning: Controlling/Dominating Sasuke. OOC at times. Naruto smarter than he appears.  
Disclaimer: I own nothing in the Naruto Universe.

**Orenji**  
Ch. 2  
- In his blood

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Gai-sensei liked kids. Loud, bratty and energetic was the best. Children were full of idle, potent energy that was put into use for the wrong things, like mischievous pranks, and hyperactive behaviour bordering ADHD. He had a duty to help these kids become splendid, hardworking and focused students who would learn to appreciate the sweat of their brow. With effort, and conviction put into their training, it would simply be impossible to not feel the good effects of their progress. Throughout his many years as a gym teacher - whilst doing kendo classes in many dojos around Konohagakure, mind you - he had seen so many hardworking kids fighting with all they had in them, sweating, panting, gasping and nearly fainting with exhaustion, just to be the last one standing. It was glorious!

Today he was training with one of the old families, who prided themselves on their history as a previous ninja clan. Gai-sensei still remembered the golden days of his own childhood where he had played ninjas and samurai in the yard, with the other kids from the area. Gai had always wanted to be the ninja, but his specialty back then had not been befitting for the lithe role of the ninja, so he had become the samurai due to his physical strength and competence.

When he had accepted training Fugaku Uchiha's sons however, he had perhaps had a different kind of expectation, these were well-trained kids not beginners, but kids were kids right? His toughest student so far had been Neji Hyuuga, who had been a tough nut to crack! That boy had just stared at him, and stared, and stared some more, it had been a mighty display of willpower! Clearly unwilling to join the fight and sweat alongside his teammates, Neji had avoided much needed discipline and teamwork. Eventually like the other kids, the Hyuuga had given in, once he saw reason – or perhaps he had just wanted to be over with it faster, but hey, each to their own objective, because no one left Gai Sensei's magic care before they had been thoroughly pushed to the breaking point and inspired to better themselves.

Now though, Guy was at a standstill on what to do. Here he was, facing three black-haired boys, but one of them had his undivided attention. The first and oldest boy, Itachi, had a very impressive aura of mystery about him. Gai's nostrils flared at as he took in the magnificently imposing figure of the teen. His build was lean and strong without a spec of unnecessary muscle present, letting Gai know that he had without question spent every day since he could walk, perfecting his movement, to avoid any excessive effort and waste of energy. He could already predict that this boy, Itachi, only used precise, unpretentious and fatal attacks that could catch any enemy that did not know what they were dealing with, off guard. Gai knew. There would be no _sweat_ wasted on overly showy swings or thrusts with this boy. He was _beautiful_ – too beautiful in fact.

"You." He pointed at the oldest Uchiha who still hadn't blinked since his arrival a good ten minutes ago, and if he had, Gai hadn't noticed at all. It was clear what he had to do. "Please leave this dojo. You have nothing to learn here."

Ignoring the rolling eyes of his mini version, Itachi glared at him for a few more seconds before he strode towards the exit, and noiselessly slid the rice paper door shut. Gai felt a pressure that he had not known was there, leaving his chest and a tear came rolling down his cheek. Today he had seen a masterpiece, a sad but perfect masterpiece, but the boy was not changeable and there was nothing Gai could do to put light in those hazy obsidian eyes. Never before had he felt defeat this way. But! Life went on and so did he.

Finally after calming himself enough he faced the two remaining boys, one was Itachi's blood brother Sasuke, who had his brother's hair, skin, eyes, nose and mouth. Even their physique would one day resemble each other's, almost like a pair of twins. Unlike his brother though, this child was sitting against the wall, feigning sleep to avoid doing something. Here was a lazy, not entirely weak but definitely untrained, brat. Gai smiled, now here was something he could work with. He would work the boy long and hard and shape him into something exceptional. He had completely forgotten about the last boy, who had been up keeping his phony smile since Gai's arrival, unfortunately his mind had already begun to fantasize about the milestones towards perfection he would have Sasuke go through. This was going to be a good day after all.

"Alright let's get started with some warm-up! Take your positions, Sasuke left corner…and you there." He pointed frantically at the last boy who was still smiling like nothing had happened. What the hell was wrong with this kid?

"Sai"

"Yes… you! Right corner."

_Unlike his perfect brother, this child was mutable still._

* * *

A young boy, in the beginning of his teens was lying draped across the ledge in the bedroom's double window lazily, half-asleep and with his eyes closed looking so peaceful that only the smaller child knew of the other's constant vigilance. Shoulder length red strands of hair fell gracefully around a semi slumped head, bobbing up and down whenever the boy awoke for a millisecond to check up on his friend. Naruto admired the bigger boy immensely and always found reassurance in the other's calming presence. They had been together from birth and they would stay together always, like brothers bound by blood, no something thicker than blood even, they were inseparable.

The little boy looked down at the papers spread across the floor and glared at them. Boxes towered up against the wall around him, in his small bedroom-turned-storage, Kabuto had never let him have a whole room for himself, not even a small one like this. And here yet again he was sorting out his guardian's belongings for him. It was Kabuto's case files, personal files and accountant books, that Naruto had spent days putting into order, partly also to make a bit more space for himself but he wondered if he should even trouble himself. They might move again in some months. He truly hated moving all the time, but had slowly accepted his guardian's nomadic lifestyle. One day the silver haired man would just come home and order him to start packing their stuff, again. This time though, Kabuto had hinted that they might stay, which Naruto hoped was the case.

"Naruto, do you still not remember your mother?" Kurama suddenly asked with his eyes still closed as if he was merely sleeping.

"No, I don't remember anything." Naruto said with that a low tone, and went back to meticulously sorting the loose files into each their pile. "I only remember you, Kura."

The redhead had slowly opened his eyes, revealing a set of fierce ruby eyes, in a pale face. Kurama was almost as pale as that Sasuke kid from a few days ago, Naruto thought pushing away any further thoughts of his odd neighbour. Kurama was his friend and protector, Naruto didn't need anyone else in his mind.

"Don't feel guilty, Kit." His friend said. "He would have been disappointed when we move again, so it is better to not get attached. You have a kind heart, but you care more about others than yourself."

Naruto smiled gently up at Kurama who was still watching him with love, the younger child still did not quite understand, but he knew what it meant, it meant the other would do anything to keep him happy.

"Boy!" Their guardian called. Naruto got up quickly and left the room, too hurried to see Kurama get up to take his spot on the floor and continue the leftover paper work.

Upon finishing another pile of papers, the redhead went to go through a new one, but the first file laying up top looked like their neighbour which stopped him in his tracks. Kurama's eyes narrowed as he looked at an older copy of Sasuke Uchiha, with longer hair. Kurama remembered this boy who had been watching his Naruto a few days ago, and spouted insults, before demanding that Naruto be his friend. That made him chuckle again, just the thought of that arrogant boy's expression changing from indifferent and passive to staggered, made him snicker inside. What a demanding child that had been.

Still, none of this added up as to why their guardian would have this Uchiha heir's file, Kurama was certain Kabuto had not had any prior meetings with the Uchihas. Determined to find answers, the fox-like redhead skimmed the file and stopped up at the name that read 'Itachi' instead of Sasuke. So they weren't the same, but they shared same last names and this black-haired boy looked around Kurama's physical age, with that kid Sasuke's same obsidian eyes, although deeper and more empty-looking.

The notes that stood out the most were '_Patient's eyes shows vulnerability to sunlight_', '_Has been diagnosed with Glaucoma, at thirteen_.', '_surgical treatment to recover vision denied_' and '_Permanent damage irreversible_.' A long silence followed as Kurama digested what he had learnt. He quickly tucked the files away in one of the piles and continued to sort the rest in silence.

Naruto returned about an hour later, to a neat room, or at least a floor he could walk on, and saw Kurama sleeping on his bed, stretched out and soundly asleep or so he thought. Kurama noticed the slight but still noticeable change in the boy's colour. He had paled a little bit, and Kurama knew what that meant.

"Show me your hand, Naruto." The other demanded, shocking the blonde. Naruto hesitated but then sat down on the bed, giving the other full vision of his left arm. A bandage covered the palm and a red trail of blood had already seeped through the tissue. Kurama gently peeled the bandage off accurately, like he had done it a million times before. Which he had of course, since he could never leave the child in pain. The last piece of bandage came off to reveal a fresh gash, where Naruto had been cut. His friend's ruby eyes looked pained as he began licking the cut, but the blonde didn't wince at the feeling of the other's tongue, if anything, he felt a relief as the thumping pain of the blood that had gathered, subsided rapidly. It helped. The cut closed up, leaving only a light trace of saliva. Broken as he was, Kurama would always heal him. "This cannot continue forever. You know that right?"

"I know." The child muttered dejectedly, but quickly added. "It was a young child this time, so I didn't mind that much, I was glad he got another chance at life."

The redhead watched him in amazement, although he shouldn't be surprised anymore. Naruto had always been like this, wishing the best for others, so kind. So very kind, and yet Naruto could not see it himself, the amazing things he did for other people. Naruto finally turned to look at him, his sky blue eyes full of gratitude. "Oh, and Kurama, thank you."

Why did Naruto always have to go and say unnecessary things? "No problem, kit. Come and get some rest, I may be able to heal you but I cannot replace the blood you have lost. I'll tell you an amazing story about Ninja's from a place called 'the hidden leaf'"

Naruto blue eyes widened and he looked hooked. Nothing was better for a child with no toys to play with, than a story. He threw himself down next to the other. "The hidden leaf? What kind of place was it, ne, was there any ninja like me?"

"Yes, there was a boy who is exactly like you! With whisker marks and everything." Kurama chuckled. Naruto scowled but only managed a childish pout.

"You shouldn't make up stories where I'm the main lead, Kura!"

"I'm not saying this for your sake kit, that child really could have been you. He wanted to be a ninja so he could one day become a hokage in his village and protect his kin…"

"Hokage? What is that?" The blonde asked unable to resist the curiosity.

"I'll come around to that soon, anyways, the story doesn't begin here. It began at least ten years before that, when the fourth hokage bravely sacrificed his life to protect the village from certain doom. Because the _brilliant_,_ great_ and _undefeatable_ tailed beast was on the loose, he was the nine tails, but many knew him as Kyuubi…."

* * *

"Kyuubi?" Fugaku eyed the stranger with an unreadable expression, as he tilted his head slightly, causing middle length tresses of silky coal-coloured hair to swing softly around his unmarred, youthful face. The face of Uchiha corporation, was simultaneously a cause of fear and one of great admiration amongst his enemies, in the business world. The man possessed a rare traditional beauty only heard of in Japanese legends of history. And when was history not greatly exaggerating either a war hero's accomplishments or Hikaru Genji's uncanny beauty that must have mesmerized many.

"Yes, that is what they call him, sir." The man added excitedly. "I hear this child can heal incurable diseases. The only problem would be his owner. We don't know where they currently reside, they could be anywhere, but these amazing stories have been popping up, one after another. How could there not be some truth to it?"

"My son is about to go blind, I don't need these false hopes." The CEO replied icily. The Uchiha felt helpless, had he really resorted to listening to myths in hopes of finding some unorthodox way to help his son. Eventually his second son would also know about his brother's weakness, all these stressful things would have been enough to give any middle aged man grey hairs, but not the Uchiha, on the outside he looked uncaring as ever, only his assistant knew better.

"Reschedule the afternoon meetings." Fugaku demanded. "And have the limo ready."

* * *

Sasuke had after a long day of ridiculous training with a ridiculous sensei in a green bodysuit, left the dojo with renewed burning resentment towards his cousin Sai. There was no particular reason for his resentment though; he just disliked the other vehemently. Sai and him, had just never functioned well together, and in school they pretended to not know the other. Sai's dirty mouth was something that was better to not be associated with, and although Sasuke had the ability to tune the other raven's bullshit out, he had almost hit his limit today. The youngest Uchiha had lost some weight, and Sai had complimented Sasuke's new non-existent diet plan. And perhaps it was silly, it was probably not even the other raven that had put him in this mood, it was just everything. Today he turned nine and his father had set him up for physical training. On his birthday. Sure it was a good thing that there was no party to worry about, but he couldn't care less about sparring with his retarded cousin. These daily training sessions with the weirdo Maito Gai, had been uneventful and tedious, the teacher seemed to focus on Sasuke and how to make everything harder on him than Sai.

And then school, it had been horrible. Sasuke had ended up spending most of the noon on the rooftop of the school, contemplating on how to get out of school before the girl's from his class noticed his disappearance. And he had, after a few days sort of expected to perhaps see, that weird child again, but the other had not transferred to Sasuke's school and other nearby schools were still very far away, so why hadn't he. Sasuke could only come to the conclusion that the other did not, and neither would he ever, attend school. How could someone lead such a depressing life and not want any friends? Well, whatever, Sasuke didn't care what happened to that dobe. He was almost sure that his neighbour had stayed inside for the past week or so just to avoid seeing Sasuke in the garden. So why did Sasuke have to feel like he was the one missing out on something.

Sasuke trudged to the bathroom to ready a bubble bath, despite having already had a shower after training. Cleanliness was a high priority for Sasuke who shied away from physical gestures and touching from others. He wasn't skittish or anything he just felt discomfort when others touched him with their hands, hands that had also touched other places, most likely _dirty_ places. And the thought of that was so revolting that Sasuke scrubbed his body extra hard. The Uchiha had nearly beat up his classmate Kiba once when the bastard had run into him during a football match, and toppled both of them over. That vile smell of dog had clung to Sasuke even after multiple baths. He trembled in disgust at the memory, and then realized something. _He_ had also touched Sasuke like that, except the other boy didn't disgust him really. Sasuke didn't remember any particular scent of the Dobe's though, nothing at all. Perhaps the boy just cleaned up well, that was probably it, just because he was poor and stupid didn't mean he couldn't maintain a certain degree of cleanliness.

As the heat from the water seeped through to his worn out body, it suddenly remembered that feeling for him. How the soft blonde spikes brush against his neck, and that warm skin that had been glowing with heat as if he was just permanently warmer than others, and the way the shocked sky blue eyes had looked at him once the other realized he was not an animal, but another human being. And then the other had finally given him a name for himself, Naruto. He mentally groaned, it wasn't like him at all. Especially not talking to strangers.

Holding his breath, he ducked under the water to wet his hair in one go, before adding the shampoo and carefully scrubbing his hair. It had gotten a bit longer. Maybe Naruto liked long hair. The fleeting thought left the instant his brother knocked on the bathroom door.

"Itachi?" He pouted. "What do you want?"

"I'll be going out for a bit. Remember that kid, Naruto?" Sasuke's expression darkened, he had told his brother the blonde's name, but why was Itachi rubbing the incident in his face. "His guardian has been gone for some days and the kid has been home alone so I feel it won't be right unless I go check up on him, I told father."

_What?_ Sasuke's eyes widened. "Brother no! Don't go to him! We can't have him here!" In the matter of seconds millions of embarrassing scenarios played through his mind like a film. If Itachi went to Naruto's house and started acting familiar, the dobe would think it was Sasuke's doing, and what if the dobe actually came along unwillingly and blamed Sasuke for it? What if Naruto rejected Itachi's help and told his guardian that their neighbours were some nasty people who had been spying on them, what if his guardian got infuriated and took his briefcase with guns and shot Sasuke's family like some crazy maniac? He hadn't warned his brother about the bank robber…No…it was…too…awkward to think of. All the reasons would eventually point to Sasuke being the cause of some major, occurrence. He couldn't let Itachi walk into a death-trap, their father would blame Sasuke if something happened to his brother, he just knew it. If Itachi died, Sasuke would definitely get kicked out and left on the street to rot.

"Sasuke, I must, it is not appropriate to leave a young boy home alone for so long, I will talk to his guardian once he is back home. I'm off now. See you soon little brother." Itachi finally said and left, ignoring the Sasuke's yelling. _Damnit_. Damn his righteous brother and his stupid conscience! What about Sasuke's reputation! His life! It wasn't fair that he could be blamed if Itachi went and got himself shot. He could feel his cool slipping, he had to do something, something he wouldn't usually do, and he had to save his brother from the crazy neighbours.

With a great force he stepped out of the bathtub, fully naked, grabbing the nearest towels and drying himself off in a rush before he hurriedly forced the clean set of clothes on his still damp skin. Fuck he hated putting clothes on when his skin was still damp, and urrgh, it was itching too, but Sasuke would ignore the discomfort this time. Just this once. He ran towards the backdoor, but it was locked so he kicked a plant from the nearby window panel in order to jump out the window instead. Itachi was nowhere to be seen. Sasuke's legs wobbled as he landed on the stone tiled terrace instead of soft grass, and winced at the feeling of his joints painfully taking the blow.

He felt his heart pound furiously as he was running towards the bushes, ignoring twigs and branches scratching his skin and finally managed to fight his way through to the weed garden. He felt his heart drop to his stomach as he saw Naruto standing there in the doorway to his ragged porch talking with Itachi, in an orange pyjama and a fox plushie, tugged to his chest with his left arm. Sasuke couldn't interfere now, Itachi was the one Naruto was looking at now.

"-always stays away for a few weeks." Fragments of conversation reached his ears, but it was hard to make out what they said.

"-our place is-stay with us-few days—"

"Just -the weekend then?"

"—Yes."

Sasuke couldn't take his eyes off Naruto as the blonde nodded reluctantly. Things would go as he had feared. Itachi the smooth talker had convinced the dobe to stay at the Uchiha mansion for the weekend. Sasuke would have to avoid the blonde, in his own home. He just sincerely wished Naruto would be back in his shabby little house before the snake got home. No, he had to be back, before the snake got home or they would have a real problem to deal with soon. This was not what he had been wishing for his birthday. Sore and cold from the night air, Sasuke ran back home and locked himself in his room. He couldn't face Naruto looking like this.

* * *

Kurama had warned him against going, again and again. Saying how he couldn't just trust strangers, but something about older had put him at ease, he thought at first it might be that the other looked like an older version of Sasuke, but it wasn't that.

Maybe he had known this all along. From the moment he had heard that unfamiliar knocking on the door. No one ever knocked on their door and Kabuto had keys. So he had at first considered it being the police who had come to announce that his guardian had been in an accident, it had been a while since he had been home, but Naruto also knew that the thought was absurd, his guardian never had accidents, and if he did, he would survive it, because of Naruto.

On the porch he had found an ethereal boy, with empty eyes the colour of blood, staring and unmoving, like a statue. The man, or boy, did not smile, but neither had he scowled at Naruto. The other had ghostly white skin that combined with the rest of his appearance had at first sent Naruto stumbling back in fear though, causing the porcelain statue to shift and come alive on his doorstep. The ghostly white man had stepped into the lamplight on the porch and his eyebrows rose slightly giving him a worried look, but it was so brief that Naruto wasn't sure if the other was even human back then, and besides Naruto had always had an unhealthy fear of ghosts.

That ghost was _Uchiha Itachi_ though.

"My apologies if I startled you." Itachi said softly. That was the first time Naruto noticed, the hazy look in those blood orbs, that made him want to follow to other, he could sense a painful shroud hanging around the boy. Blue eyes lingered a moment longer before he bent his head in greeting. "My name is Itachi Uchiha."

"It's ok, but...why are you... here?" Naruto asked nervously, facing the other again, his sky blue eyes had sharpened considerably, causing Itachi to blink, but the haze in his own eyes remained, blurring any clear vision of Naruto he could have had.

"Right." Itachi said, not trying to focus his vision anymore. "It has come to my attention that you have been come alone for almost a week now, without your guardian or a relative. Hence I've come to invite you to stay with us, meaning me and my younger brother. At least for the weekend."

Naruto blinked, eyes reverting to its original look of puzzlement. "But, it is quite fine, sir. My guardian always stays away for a few weeks. W-..I...can take care of myself."

"I believe you, but it i's no good for a child to stay home alone for so long. Our place is literally next to yours, so you should come stay with us, just for a few days." Itachi insisted. "Our father is part of the neighbourhood squad. It will be troublesome if people start misunderstanding you and your guardian seeing as you are new to our neighbourhood and have just moved in."

The child's eyes widened. "There is such a thing as a neighbourhood squad here?" Naruto had never heard of this before, but it sounded convincing enough.

"Yes. On this street, many of Konohagakure's influential families reside so the security here is tightened." Itachi explained calmly.

"Ok, I understand...I think." Naruto muttered, not meaning to sound rude. "Just, for the weekend then?"

"Don't Naruto. We shouldn't meddle in this." Kurama begged, but he knew it was too late. Naruto was drawn in by the other's need of help, not his own need for company. His Naruto _wanted_ to go. Before the Uchiha had provided him with a reason to. The older Uchiha reeked of sickness, a smell that Naruto couldn't ignore.

Naruto ignored him, still looking at the Uchiha.

"Yes."

"Um..should I bring anything?"

"You don't need to bring a sleeping bag, we have enough room." Itachi said with the faintest of smiles, but it was enough to touch the smaller blonde. "Perhaps just your toothbrush and some clothes."

"O-oh, ok. Give me a moment." Naruto said, scratching the back of his head and feeling a bit embarrassed at his current attire. Itachi noticed the child's flushed cheeks and hid a smirk.

"Take your time. I'll wait outside." The older boy said, with a husky voice that made his spine tingle.

Naruto had never been invited to someone's house before so he had this strange lump in his stomach, was he feeling nervous? Definitely, but there was another feeling as well and it wasn't so bad. As the blonde packed a pair of orange knickers, he suddenly became aware of how faded the colour was and how ragged and scruffy most of his clothes were in general and especially compared to that striking boy outside who had been wearing a simple but tightfitting pair of black pants and a inky blue wool jacket that reached his hips. It was still summer, but the boy must have been very cold to wear that, Naruto thought, and momentarily forgot about his rags. Hopefully they didn't pay much attention to how he dressed.

Kurama had watched him quietly as Naruto packed energetically, but felt like the boy was drifting away from him. He couldn't hide the sad look in his eyes. "Kit."

"Yes?" The blonde answered, still folding clothes but not looked at _him_.

"I think it is for the best if you don't talk to me whilst you are around these people."

Naruto stopped up to face the redhead and slowly nodded. "Will you not still be there to protect me?" The child mumbled meekly.

"Of course I will silly." Kurama forced a smile as Naruto sprang into his arms and hugged him. "You mean everything to me, kit."

Of course he would protect Naruto, and if any of the Uchiha's harmed him, Kurama would be there to tear them to pieces. Kurama didn't feel good about any of this. There was an anxiety about the sudden visit, the sudden decision and Naruto wasn't used to being social with others. Naruto had always only been his and _his_ alone. These people wouldn't take the blonde from him. That was never a possibility. He existed because of Naruto Uzumaki, his dear Minato's son.

* * *

"Sasuke. Share the popcorn with the rest of us and stop being a glutton." Itachi stared coolly as he looked down at the Naruto who was seated on one side of Itachi whilst Sasuke had taken up the other side. Sasuke jabbed his brother at the word 'glutton' but handed over the big bowl of popcorn he had been keeping on his side of the table.

"Glutton? I hardly had any. Naruto ate three bowls of ramen and now all the chocolate too, and I'm the glutton?" Sasuke bit back, making the blonde blush in embarrassment. Served the dobe right.

"He's my guest; of course he can eat sweets, because he finished his dinner unlike you, who is always so damn picky." Itachi rasped. His voice was getting almost hoarse and so was Sasuke' for that matter. Neither of them was natural in the art of conversation.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke." Naruto said weakly, but managed to interrupt their bickering. "You can have this, I didn't finish them all."

Sasuke looked at the half eaten Pocky stick, the blonde was handing him, it looked clean enough but there had to be spit somewhere there. "Dobe, your spit is all over -!"

In that instant Itachi had grabbed the Pocky and stuck it into Sasuke's open mouth. "There, now shut up."

On reflex Sasuke was forced to chew and swallow the sweet, grudgingly. How dare Itachi and Naruto treat him like this….it was Sasuke's birthday. Didn't they care at all?

Sasuke didn't know how it had happened, but somehow everything seemed almost normal. Naruto had even smiled and greeted him, with those sky blue eyes looking at him in the entrance hall, when Sasuke had finally decided to leave his room. It was almost like they were friends. It was almost as if this was a normal occurrence for them, just sitting in the living room, on a Friday night, eating oily snacks whilst watching movies and biting each other's head off. It was almost nice to just be here, like a family.

Sasuke had never done anything like this before ever, but Sasuke still didn't know that_ neither_ had Naruto.

* * *

Thanks for all the nice reviews guys, they really made my day.

Naive Naruto has taken a liking to the wrong Uchiha, and Kabuto is making money off of Naruto. And...Itachi is sick? That sums up this chapter neatly I guess.  
Again they are all kids still, Naruto and Sasuke will undergo huge personality changes, to resemble their cannon self. Meanwhile, Itachi is a good brother in my fic.

Next chapter will probably be the last before timeskip.


	3. Prologue III: In his eyes

**Orenji**  
ツWhen an Uchiha speaks, you listen. When an Uchiha offers their hand in friendship, you take it. When an Uchiha wants something, they will have it. So why does his foolish blonde dobe of a neighbour refuse him time and time again? The only logical answer - The boy must be crazy.

Time skip will be upcoming, in a few chapters.

Warning: Controlling/Dominating Sasuke. OOC at times. Naruto smarter than he appears. Tiny bit of Itachi/Naruto in this chapter.  
Disclaimer: I own nothing in the Naruto Universe.

**Orenji**  
Ch. 3  
- In his eyes

* * *

When Sasuke woke up, it was because something was tickling him. And when Sasuke's eyes opened, he saw _something _which just did not make sense to his brain, - something sand-coloured, or was it blonde? - was blurring his vision from the mere proximity. The first thought that came to his mind was: duster. Had his brother put some duster in his face? Sasuke gazed warily at the tuft of soft looking, blonde hair for a whole minute - or two - before the question occurred to him. Why would Itachi put a duster in his face? It shouldn't be there. And with that logic in its place, he firmly gripped the tuft and pulled it, attempting to lift it away from himself. What came next threw him off more than ever. The tuft_ hissed_ at him.

"AHHH! Let go! LET GO!"

Sasuke growled and covered his ears defensively. His ears were ringing with a high shrill scream that had come from, the tuft?

Damn that tuft.

With great force he pushed the _thing_ away him his face, only to hear a heavy thud on the floor a moment later where Naruto laid sprawled across the floor with his arms wrapped around his sore scalp, hugging the spot of his hair that had been pulled mercilessly. Sasuke sat up instantly somewhat dizzy and sleep drunk from just waking up. His memory still remained a blur from the night before. However he could easily figure what had happened. Evidently they had both fallen asleep on the couch last night, but Itachi had left them there and gone to bed himself – that jerk -, without waking Sasuke up. The Raven growled again in anger, ignoring Orang-Naruto. Itachi would pay for this humiliation. He would not apologise to the dobe. Why did he have to sleep so close to Sasuke anyways?

"That hurt! Who punches a sleeping person!?" Naruto yelled angrily, and Sasuke felt an odd sense of amusement rise inside of him. Why did he like to piss the blonde off so damn much, it just came naturally really. Last night as well, of course.

Blocking out whatever the blonde said in favour of contemplating, Sasuke had a thoughtful look on his face and just responded with a. "Hn."

Perhaps the other boy wanted to be his friend and had awkward ways of showing it. That had to be it, of course. Naruto was finally coming around to grasp common sense and was regretting his previous decision in not taking Sasuke's hand in friendship. The dobe was perhaps not as stupid as previously assumed. Sasuke really didn't appreciate the whole touchy feely approach though. It was a five-man sofa. Naruto had definitely wormed closer to him on purpose there was no doubt about that. Should he bother to inform his dobe of his touchy-feely problem, if they were going to be friends he should know and respect it, Sasuke thought.

Whilst not actually listening, Sasuke had still made sense - or caught the gist of it - of what the other boy had been yelling, and groaned in annoyance. Sasuke shouldn't have to explain that, but still, the other was an idiot, it was not like he could figure out the reason himself. So Sasuke would make an exception. "Your big head was in my face, Dobe." Unfortunately Sasuke never got explain himself further.

"Really teme?! You ripped my hair out for _that_ reason? I'd need a more sincere apology than some lame excuse!" Naruto sneered, blue eyes once again looking at Sasuke with that hateful look. Whatever, if the dobe continued to act with such enmity towards him, how was their friendship ever going to work out. But then again, Sasuke still really liked those blue eyes. And Sasuke had never liked any part of another person's physique before. Maybe Sasuke should at least try to touch Naruto again, he might even…not dislike it entirely. Naruto might be the exception. It couldn't hurt, besides there was nothing strange about it, this was exactly what Sakura tried to do to him every day he came to school. If Sakura could do it then so could he. Mind you, he still didn't appreciate it when Sakura did it, but who would complain if Sasuke of all people did it? None that he was aware of.

With that in mind he grabbed the blonde standing in front of him, by the arm and yanked the other unceremoniously back onto the couch.

A small gasp of surprise came from Naruto as he was pulled down on the couch next to Sasuke, who instantly took the opportunity to wrap his arms around the blonde's middle. Naruto who remained shocked didn't react as the raven hugged him awkwardly. After a few seconds Naruto regained his composure and tried to move away, but felt the other's rough breathing on the nape of his neck. "Stay still, dobe."

Sasuke didn't understand, but he felt sort of weakened, from the sensation that Naruto's body heat left on him, the other's body was very soft as well, despite how thin and frail he looked. It was hard to maintain any form of articulate thoughts and he felt sort of sleepy from inhaling the other's vague scent. Naruto did have a scent, Sasuke concluded dimly. Right now, he had the scent of sunshine, that warm sweet scent of summer people got when they stayed outdoors on a regular basis, and it was also the scent of nature, the boy reeked of fresh air. Before he knew it, his hand had reached up at the back of Naruto's head where it buried itself in mid length strands of woven blonde hairs. It felt better than he would have thought.

"What are you doing? Ahh, I get it now, you are sorry for hitting me, but you can, erh… l-let go now." Naruto stuttered, he was feeling very awkward and was not sure what to do about the other boy, still holding him so tightly in place, seemingly without the intention of letting go. Sasuke's grip tightened when Naruto stopped resisting. The blonde's tension left and for a moment it was as if the blonde was about to hug Sasuke back.

"Am I interrupting something?" A third voice came, that made both Sasuke and Naruto turn. Sasuke pulled away instantly, retracting his arms, and hating how cold he suddenly felt as Naruto inched a whole seat away from him, blushing brightly. It was another boy, around nine or so that resembled a shorter haired Sasuke.

"Sai." Sasuke just glared, visibly not wanting the other there. Not just because now was a bad time but because it was always a bad time when it came to Sai. And Sai coming early for their training _today_, was intolerable.

Sai smiled sweetly and looked over at Naruto. "What is your name, blondy?"

"I'm Naruto, nice to meet you." Naruto smiled back at Sai. Sasuke sighed, if only his blonde neighbour knew how Sai was normally like.

"Likewise, Naruto-chan. You have a cute smile." Sai said, smiling in return. "You should join me and Sasuke in the dojo for our morning lessons."

Sasuke coughed, Sai was complimenting someone, and it was a real compliment. He definitely had not seen that coming, but more than that. Sasuke did not like that Sai was complimenting Naruto. Not that Naruto's smile wasn't cute or anything…

"Can I?" The blonde's interest was piqued.

"Of course you can, right Sasuke?" Sai said and turned towards Sasuke who had gotten up in the meantime, currently fixing his shirt that had rolled up from sleeping on the couch.

"Do whatever you want." Sasuke mumbled disinterested, as he left to get changed.

* * *

Sasuke stretched his body lazily, without feeling the tiniest bit of exhaustion from the fights today. Gai's training had increased his stamina significantly, and Sasuke had beat Sai, but he was only leading with six rounds to Sai's five. Sasuke felt odd under the scrutiny of Gai, but now it wasn't just them. His eyes fell on the blonde boy, sitting near the wall looking at Sasuke with wide blue eyes, full of admiration. This blonde dobe was now here as well, and it was more distracting than anything.

"Take positions now! Your 10 second break is over!" Gai announced. "No weapons allowed."

Sasuke and Sai separated and paced off twenty feet in each direction. Sasuke took a moment to collect himself and consider everything, he knew about Sai: The other's habits and mannerisms were important in order to understand his opponents personality. Throwing away any thoughts of dislike he had harboured towards his cousin would benefit him now. What did Sai like, what did Sai dislike? Sasuke had not the faintest idea of those. All he ever saw Sai for was his outer shell that was like an empty mask. Sai's smile, did he ever smile sincerely, and why did he start smiling so falsely to begin with? Did Sai have any reason to be unhappy with his life at all? Sasuke couldn't think of any.

Setting aside his uncertainty, he positioned himself in a defensive stance, leaving no blind spots for frontal attacks. Sai

He knew Sai would be expecting him to act on impulse, and he would use that to his advantage. As they begun to spin around each other in the circle, they were locked inside, Sasuke faked losing balance in order to draw the other in. Sai closed the gap and went for his right arm, which his intuition had told him, so he had turned in a split second and grabbed Sai's left arm and forced it behind his back.

Sai jumped forward with great force and swung his body mid-air, causing Sasuke to get pulled along in the roll and get thrown flat on the flooring with Sai on top of him, punching the air from his lungs in the process. His face was turned to the side as his chest heaved painfully for air. The blonde was looking at him from his seat. Naruto looked worried.

Sasuke forced himself up, pushing the other off with a sudden display of raw strength. He couldn't let Sai win like this. Sai backed away, to a good parting distance and tossed back some sweaty bangs and smiled triumphantly at Sasuke.

"I applause you for getting up, after a hit as strong as that." Sai grinned and threw the other a phony smile.

"Hn, strength? If your attack held any strength whatsoever I would have been knocked out, but unfortunately, your punches hold no strength behind them." Sasuke bit back and even before the other's smile had begun to fade from his lips, he was sprinting forward, arms held low, leaving the other to guess his next attack. This tempted Sai into a reckless pre-emptive punch, aimed for his collarbone. Had the blow landed he might very well have broken part of his clavicle, but he was the faster of the two of them, so hr dove under and threw a well-aimed punch at Sai's jaw, causing the other to stumble back and lose his footing whilst holding his jaw in shock.

"STOP." Gai yelled, and rushed to Sai's side to check, his jaw. Sasuke knew though, that Sai wouldn't want to smile again for a good while. Although not broken, he was certain the other's jaw was by now, severely sprained. He did not know he had been smirking till his eyes fell on a thoughtful blonde looking at him coldly, like he had done something unfair. Sasuke felt odd, and suddenly it bothered him.

Everything was as it should be. _He_ had Naruto's attention, but what kind of attention had he expected from the blonde. Certainly not this.

"Practice is done for today. I will take Sai to the doctor's and have him checked for fractures; meanwhile, you two will clean up." His teacher said and left with Sai cradled in his arms. He did not glance back at Sasuke.

Sasuke was looking at the floor, something wasn't right. Everything had started spinning and something was hurting terribly. His hand reached up to his chest to loosen the fabric. He leant on the wall and allowed his body to slide down the side, unaware of the blue eyes still watching him.

"Sasuke? Are you alright?" The dobe's voice in his mind was the last thing he heard before he blacked out on the floor. He didn't see the blonde coming over to him, and he did not see nor feel it, when the blonde repositioned his body, and draped his own worn-out a jacket over him.

"Can you hear me?"

Meanwhile Naruto had panicked a bit and set off towards the backdoor to the mansion where he banged on the door with ferocity till someone heard the noise. The Uchiha's head butler had opened and let him in after inspecting him for a moment, with a quizzical look, and a set of thick eyebrows that rose when the blonde asked for Master Itachi. After telling, him that Sasuke was unconscious in the dojo, the butler pointed him towards the library next to the main hall after assuring him that he would take care of Sasuke.

When he had reached the library, he had first mistaken it for a storage room, because In the library, there was no light at all, leaving Naruto to wonder if Itachi had already left but then he saw the shape of the older Uchiha sitting in a corner with many stacks of books should be. It was a dark room with seemingly no windows, and the few lamps that were on, were so dim, that Itachi couldn't possibly be reading. He was about to tell the other about Sasuke, but stopped when the other spoke.

"Who is it?" The older boy said huskily, not bothering to look up.

Naruto was only standing a few meters from Itachi, when the other had heard him. The blonde stopped up and saw Kurama sitting next to Itachi's chair, in his smaller fox form, which was no bigger than a regular fox. The fox watched him intently and moved its head to one side, and then the other side, just once, almost as if Kurama wanted to shake his head in warning.

"Hello?" The other tried again, this time looking around and briefly at the spot where Naruto was.

He hesitated and then he rose to his feet in a single graceful movement, came over towards vaguely lighted corner where Naruto was at and looked around as if he had felt some movement here.

"Itachi-san, I'm right here." Hazy obsidian eyes whipped in his direction.

"Ah, it's you Naruto. Is there something I can help you with?" Itachi was smiling, but not for long.

"How long have you had this blindness Itachi-san." Naruto asked sternly, never taking his eyes off of the other's now saggy frame. Had Itachi looked this weak just yesterday?

Itachi remained silent for a moment, the gentle smile no longer on his lips.

"The room is just dark, there is nothing wrong with my eyes." The other just said.

Why did the other insist so strongly that there was nothing wrong with him, when there obviously was? Naruto did not understand it. The other was the son of the richest CEO's around and here he was struggling with an eye disease that could have been fixed with the appropriate surgery. Did Sasuke know that his brother was blind, or was Itachi hiding that fact to protect Sasuke from inertly blaming himself for not seeing the truth about his brother?

"You smell like sickness, Itachi-san."

"You could smell it?" Itachi finally enquired with a low voice and sighed. "No one could tell what was wrong with me till recently."

"Yeah. I know I'm not completely normal." Naruto then admitted, smiling sadly. "But you shouldn't be keeping this from Sasuke. He will be very sad if you die."

A moment came and went, as Itachi contemplated the other's words.

"Die, you say? It is just glaucoma isn't it, how could I possibly die from that." Itachi's face suddenly changed from its usual mask of complete self-restraint to one of unease.

Kurama looked ready to transform that instant and finish the sick boy off, but a threatening gaze from Naruto kept the fox in check. "I don't know. But I can feel the infection that stems from your eyes. That burning sensation you feel, isn't just your optical nerves anymore. How much of me do you see now, Itachi-san?"

"It's black, and red. I won't be able to see again before I have rested." The other finally explained, as if talking about it had somehow been a relief to him. "I can vaguely see, but just a few hours a day. The rest of the time I must rely on my other senses."

"So, nothing, I see."

Naruto's voice now came from right in front of him, and Itachi reached out for the younger boy's head, and felt the thick mane of blonde hair gently brush against his searching hand. The child had somehow managed to get close without alarming the other's senses. "Itachi-san, I have some medicine, I would like you to try."

Itachi looked uneasy about a child, offering him medicine, he had no idea what was.

"Nothing can restore my eyes, Naruto. I've given up already, don't tease me with miracle cures." Itachi then groaned, suddenly covering his eyes, they were aching again.

"It is just ointment, please. It will at least relieve you of some of the irritation." Naruto begged, as the other slowly removed the hand covering his eyes.

"Ok." Itachi gave in. Something about the child's consideration had moved him greatly, so if he could let the child think he had somehow made his condition any better, it would not be so bad.

Unable to see what it was, he felt small hands reach up and cover his eye sockets completely. He expected himself to move back on reflex, but there was no pain where the child touched him. The hands felt cool against his skin but there was something warm, wet and sticky in the other's palm. Never before had he felt such a sensation. "Please don't move." The child ordered, the Uchiha, but even if he could he wouldn't have moved away at all. His aching eyes, slowly hurt less and less, and he suddenly noticed a change in the red of his eyelids. He dared not to open his eyes whilst Naruto's hands were still there, but he had a strong urge to open his eyes and look.

Naruto pulled back his hands. "This ointment should help you at least a little." A moment later the smaller boy stuffed a piece of cloth in his hands. "You should wipe the rest off."

When Itachi opened his eyes, they immediately fixed on the lithe frame of Naruto, as if they took in the shape of the boy for the first time. The boy's sapphire eyes were looking at him solemnly, regarding him with a strange emotion in them that he couldn't quite place. These were eyes that were mature beyond their years, weren't the child's natural eyes. The childish innocence was not present. "Sasuke fainted in the dojo that is why I came to get you."

* * *

As Sasuke lay on the bed, sweating and shivering, with every part of his body aching in pain, he found himself wishing that Naruto would return, it was starting to get annoying, having his brother just sit there and stare at him in this weird way. Itachi had been by his side when he woke up, but he had not said anything to Sasuke for some reason. Itachi was acting off today; distracted and far away in thought. Was there even a point of him being here if he was just going to ignore Sasuke? The family doctor had checked him and said, that it was just exhaustion that had made Sai's blow effective enough to knock him out. There was no way Sai could have hurt him as badly if he had not already been on the brink of collapsing.

He groaned in pain as he turned to lie on his side, where he could face his still passive brother.

He had not gotten the chance to thank Naruto for helping him out and it was sort of strange that he wasn't around. Naruto was probably just sitting in front of the TV and eating ramen, whilst laughing at stupid stand-up comedy shows, leaving Sasuke here in his room to rot without as much as a visit, or a 'how are you doing?'. That blonde dobe seriously lacked some common manners. If they were going to be good friends, he would have to teach the blonde some common courtesy as well. As he laid there, in his bed riling himself even more up about the endless traits the blonde lacked – which to be honest – had become a long list by now. Itachi finally stirred on the chair.

"He left." Itachi finally informed him, with a hardened look.

"What." Sasuke glared, not sure if he had heard that right.

"His guardian is home."

Oh…

Sasuke mentally slapped himself for getting all upset. Of course Naruto had to go back to his guardian. It had just been so brief. Naruto had stayed for one day only. It had been much too soon for him to leave, but with the bank robber home again, Sasuke wasn't sure if he would get to see the other for a good while, and somehow it saddened him. It felt like whenever he took two steps forward with Naruto, he would always have to go back at least one step immediately after. Why something as simple as making conversation with the blonde was so awkward and hard, remained a mystery to the raven, he had liked just keeping the other around, somewhere in the background was fine. They didn't have to talk, or even be talkative friends; he just wanted Naruto to be here, watching him.

The rest of the weekend, had gone by at a snail pace. Few things had happened such as his brother spending more time with him, inside and outside, which had been unusual for Sasuke for a while, ever since his brother had started spending more time indoors wearing shades than he ever did outdoors. Aside from that Sasuke had also been scolded severely their his father, when his uncle had called about about Sai's jaw, and he had been forced to apologise to his nemesis, even though it had been training, and accidents do happen. It wasn't his fault that Sai had been so careless with his defences.

Itachi had as unthinkable as it was, started talking even less over the weekend, and his eyes had grown more intense, without a trace of that hazy look that had clung to him like a shroud for the past few months. Something good had happened, but his older brother didn't seem happier, just colder and more detached and solicitous.

When Monday came about he was back in his secret bush, watching the neighbour house for any activity, but no Naruto came out this time, instead he saw a few evil looking men come by and visit the snake every now and then. They left relatively quickly though, but there had still been at least seven different strangers coming and going today, what Sasuke found strange was how drained and tired they had all been looking as they entered, but when they left, they looked like people ready to run a marathon. It was so weird. Perhaps the snake was helping these strangers, somehow.

Tuesday was the same, Naruto stayed indoors but something was different about the shabby little neighbour house and garden, the weeds had been cut. Sasuke looked around frantically. It couldn't be, because Sasuke had been here all day yesterday and the high grass had been untouched. Unless of course, someone had done it at night, or at least, the in the early evening, a small voice in him suggested.

Had the guardian cut the grass at night or had Naruto been out alone at night. Curiosity killed not just the cat, but the collected sanity of all living creatures. Who wasn't curious, was the proud owner of a dysfunctional brain. And well Sasuke was curious. Plus the thought of sneaking out at night part wasn't a boring detail at all. With a small smirk forming on his face, Sasuke went in for dinner, plotting his trip to Naruto's garden for later.

The night air felt refreshing in his lungs, and he inhaled the cold air with the same pleasure a nice cool glass of orange juice would have provided him with. Orange, Naruto, Dobe, Idiot, Stupid. Never before had he had so many names to describe a single person. Naruto was a lucky boy, he just hadn't realised it yet. A creak from the wooden swing pulled him out of his reverie, and sure enough, there sat Naruto, alone, pushing forward half-heartedly, making the swing move softly.

"Why are you here.." Came a weary question, from the blonde.

Sasuke crawled out from his hiding, since he had been revealed, and walked over to a downcast Naruto. The blonde didn't look up so Sasuke gently grabbed the robes attached to the swing and stopped the swing.

"Hn, I swear, you are so strange, it is almost depressing to look at." Sasuke found himself saying without much effort.

"You don't say." The blonde muttered, giving off the faintest sign of sarcasm.

"If you are going to swing yourself so half-heartedly, then what is the point of coming here?" Sasuke asked and pulled the swing with Naruto on it backwards before, giving the other one firm push that forced the other to hold on tighter.

"H-hey…w-what are you doing, teme!" Naruto yelped in surprise and tried to make the swing go slower, but Sasuke pushed again, this time harder than before.

"Showing you how to use a swing properly, dobe." Sasuke deadpanned, hiding a smirk.

"Stop it now y-you, _you_ bastard!" Naruto whined, clinging onto the robes for his dear life.

"Why should I idiot?"

"Jerk!"

"Fool."

"Ass!"

"What is wrong, dobe? Why are you looking so stupid?" Sasuke asked, quite enjoying their little dabble of insults, it was refreshing to let out the piled up frustrations out on someone. Someone like Naruto.

"I-I DON'T LIKE HEIGHTS YOU STUPID TEME!"

"What do you like then?" Sasuke asked flatly, not slowing the swing the least.

"Why should I t-tell you! Get me down!" The blonde yelled frantically, kicking his legs in anger.

"That's why you should tell me. If you want to get down, that is." Sasuke smirked, and pushed hard again. He was definitely enjoying this a bit too much, more than he cared to understand.

"A-alright, I like miso-flavoured r-ramen..!"

Sasuke lessened the power in his next push.

"That is not enough to get you down, dobe." Sasuke deadpanned. "Now, tell me why you go out at night."

"I j-just prefer the night, please teme, no more." Naruto was starting to look miscoloured. Down on the ground Sasuke growled, in sudden annoyance. He knew the blonde was only here now for one reason, to be left alone, so he could escape facing Sasuke.

"You are lying. You are avoiding me, isn't that true?" Sasuke inquired, this time with a colder tinge in his tone. "I'll stop when you tell me why you avoid me, I can't seem to recall you having any reason to dislike me so."

"N-no…It's not like that, it r-really isn't." The swing stopped, and the blonde hugged his chest, trying to fight the urge to puke. Getting off the swing he threw himself on the ground with a sigh, embracing the grass. A moment later the raven sat down on the ground next to him, squashing the voice in him that listed all of the dirty stuff that could get on his clothes.

"I'm listening, dobe."

Naruto's face reverted to that of a downcast look. "I don't…dislike you." He muttered with a concentrated look on his face as if he was looking for the right words to say. "People like you are just, better off without someone like me as their friend."

That had to be the biggest load of bull crap Sasuke had heard in a while. "Start over again, dobe. What you just said makes zero sense."

"I am not allowed to have friendships, Sasuke." Naruto then said, and finally for the first time since the other's arrival he looked up to face the raven-haired boy, who looked so much like Itachi, yet not. Sasuke glared.

"Is that what the snake told you?" Sasuke burst out, before he could stop himself. The snake like man, sounded like a horrible guardian in Sasuke's eyes, not that he had harboured any broken illusions of the other as any sort of saint to begin with.

"S-snake? Who is that?" Sasuke noticed a shiver from the boy at the thought of snakes.

"That guardian of yours of course, he looks exactly like a snake, just admit it, he must be some crooked sick man to look like that." Sasuke said, dead serious. Then something amazing happened.

Naruto laughed. Not just a small giggle but a wide open mouthed laugh that caused a tear or two to form in the other's eyes. Naruto had a really sweet laugh as well, Sasuke thought, ignoring the part of him that found triumph in making the other laugh.

A minute or so later, Naruto had rolled around to lie on his back, next to Sasuke. "I've never had a friend, so I can't miss something I don't have, Sasuke." Naruto chuckled again." And yes, Kabuto – the so-called snake – doesn't want me to befriend people, but I've come to see why, so…" Sasuke's brows furrowed.

"Why do you listen to him?" Sasuke wondered out loud. "He doesn't even treat you well, does he?"

"So what, I'm barely nine years old, I can't be picky about my guardians, none of them could treat me like, a child." The small blonde explained, whilst watching the stars in the sky. Sasuke found that weird. Treat Naruto like a child? Did that mean he got to do what only adults could do, like decide their own bed times and set their own rules? It didn't sound so bad. "The only one, who treats me like a child, is Kurama."

"Your imaginary friend?"

"I really couldn't care less what you think," Naruto began humourlessly. "But Kurama is as real as you and me. So watch out he has teeth and claws." Naruto smiled now. "I guess I do have one friend though… Kurama."

"How did you meet this Kurama then?" Sasuke asked, holding back his disbelief, because to Naruto Kurama was a real existence.

"I didn't meet him, we have been together since I was born." Naruto glanced over at somewhere behind Sasuke. "Right now he is sitting there and watching us." As if on instinct he turned around to look at the nothingness. "He says, you should go home."

"…" Sasuke glowered at the blonde.

"Sorry Sasuke, but he is not lying, your brother is out looking for you, so, you should go home." Naruto said.

"Will you be here tomorrow?" Sasuke suddenly asked, earning him a weird look from Naruto.

"W-what? Why?"

"Because I'll come back and visit you, dobe." Sasuke smiled.

"But why would you bother?"

"Because I want to visit my friend, is there something wrong with that?"

Naruto gulped, looking around nervously. "Sasuke, we can't…"

"We are friends now, so stop saying nonsense like '_I don't want any friends, coz my guardian told me no'_," Sasuke imitated him with a fake whimpering voice, then stopped when Naruto looked at him like he had grown a second head. "Are you _that_ scared of him, dobe?"

"That's not it…"

"If he touches you, I'll beat him up for you."

"But…!"

"So now, we are friends. See you tomorrow evening, _Naruto_." Sasuke said firmly as he got up from his spot and ran through the bush from here he had come. Left behind was a confused Naruto who wasn't quite sure what to do and a sighing Kurama by his side.

* * *

Itachi had been looking at himself in the mirror and Sasuke had seen it. "Why are you so obsessed with looking at people and…things? Even your own reflection?" Sasuke had asked his older brother.

"I'm memorizing." Was the short answer he got, making Sasuke glare. Itachi had changed, and so had his father, they were so strange now. Ever since Naruto had left, Itachi had developed this bad habit of staring anything and anyone down, as if his eyesight could possibly fail him at any given time or moment. And Sasuke wouldn't have thought so harshly of his brother had he known why the other suddenly collapsed with a high fever, and had spent days in bed. It all happened the other day. In between his evening meetings with Naruto, Itachi had come out to find him night after night and then in the beginning of this week, he had found his brother unconscious in the garden.

Itachi always had to act strong and never show other's that he too could suffer, and it was driving Sasuke mad. It could even be considered selfish, with the way his brother just hid everything and let it pile up till the shit hit the fan. Now Sasuke was back in Naruto's garden sulking next to the blonde who was busy petting a sleeping Kurama in his lap. Naruto was a good listener though, and helped Sasuke letting go of his frustrations, in his own way.

"You are such a jerk, Itachi-san cares about you, why else would be search for you every day to make sure you get home. You should be by his side right now, teme!" Naruto was angry with him, a bit too angry, whenever it came to discussions about Itachi.

"Well, I never asked him to _care_! He should just stay in and not get sick, why are you so defensive when it comes to Itachi, huh?" Sasuke glared. "Do you like him or something?"

Naruto blushed. Sasuke looked speechless. "You… like… my… brother?"

"No!" Naruto exclaimed, a bit louder than he had intended.

"You are so bad at lying, dobe…"

"I just think he is cool." The offended blonde huffed, earning another glare from Sasuke, who had now inched closer to him.

"What about me then?" Obsidian eyes bore into, shy blue eyes, as if searching for the answer in Naruto's eyes.

Naruto tried to move away, but Sasuke had grabbed his arm.

"I-I like you too." Naruto gulped at seeing Sasuke's smirk spread. "But I like Itachi more." The smirk was gone, and the other loomed over him dangerously. With a single push, Naruto was on the ground trapped underneath Sasuke's bigger body, pressing down on his and holding his arms pinned behind his head with a single hand. "Teme…you are heavy, get off!"

Unfortunately Sasuke did not intend to do as the blonde requested and gingerly used his right hand to pull up the smaller boy's t-shirt, which earned him a groan from the restrained Naruto. His fingers poked the delicate flesh of the other's middle and began to tickle the living daylights out Naruto, who twisted and bucked violently trying to get Sasuke off. A painful laughter filled the garden.

"Answer again, dobe." Sasuke taunted, whilst tickling away mercilessly.

"I-I ….c-cant..AhhahaAhhhhaaahahAHA." Naruto's throat had dried up from the rapid breaths and painful jerks his body had made in an attempt to free him.

"I didn't hear that."

"I l-like you, I like you! S-so stop teme!" Naruto nearly cried with laughter.

"Since you like my brother the most, it's no good. Unless." Sasuke halted his wandering hand for a moment. "Do you love me, dobe?"

Somewhere in Naruto's mind, he thought of Itachi, confined to his bed and unable to have any fun, like Sasuke could. Meanwhile Sasuke wasn't as concerned as he should be and it worried Naruto. He kind of liked Sasuke, but there was other things, he did not like so much. The other did not appreciate his family enough, and Naruto was afraid his friend, was neglecting time with his brother in favour of him. "Sasuke, can I stay over today, if I love you?"

Something alarmed him, there was warning signals, but he didn't heed them. He wasn't using Sasuke. Not really at least. He was doing this to help Sasuke. Sasuke needed to sort out his priorities, and if Naruto had to do this to help him, he would.

Sasuke blinked, surprised by how easily the other had given in. "Sure, but isn't Mr. Snake home?"

"Yeah, but today will be fine, I can come back here tomorrow."

"Alright, let's go then." Sasuke jumped off him, with a sincere smile on his face. He looked so happy, that Naruto almost felt painful watching him. Was it alright to be Sasuke's friend?

Inside the mansion, Sasuke had gotten both of them two big bowls of ramen, setting the mood for a peaceful evening with, lots of TV and consol games. Naruto had never played videogames before, so he ended up losing most of the games, but just seeing Sasuke having so much fun, was enough to keep him going. Soon after, South Park came on the TV and Sasuke brought a tub of tricoloured ice-cream and two spoons. They bickered a bit over taking turns, and in the end, Naruto had blamed Sasuke for being too lazy to bring some bowls instead, mainly because Sasuke savoured the taste of the ice-cream with one lick at a time, which was a bit to much for Naruto's patience to handle. Sasuke had glowered at that and started spoon-feeding Naruto at a speed that gave the blonde a brain freeze.

"So greedy." Sasuke mumbled, and smirked at Naruto, who was now lying flat across almost three seats on the sofa, with a horrible stomach-ache.

"Shut up, teme." Naruto bit back, as his stomach made a pained noise, clearly not appreciating the mix of ramen and ice-cream.

Sasuke's eyes were resting on Naruto's face, where a small tinge of red tinted his face.

"Dobe.. do you intend to sleep here again?" Sasuke asked, the blushing blonde.

"Where else should I go?" The blonde whimpered as he punched his stomach gently.

"Come."

Naruto tried to sit up but winced. "This is your doing, take responsibility!" He hadn't expected the raven to do anything of course, so when the other just stared at him with an unreadable expression before turning around and crouching, he blurted out. "No piggyback!"

"Hn, stop being so difficult." Before Naruto could protest any further, the raven raised him, by pulling the blondes legs around his waist. Naruto instantly clung onto Sasuke's back to not fall back down. Naruto sulked during the short piggy back ride and didn't even pay attention to where he was led, till Sasuke put him down on a futon. A prepared futon, next to Sasuke's own bed.

"Like this is fine, right?"

Naruto nodded, too sore to complain. It would do.

"Naruto. I was wondering. You don't go to school right?" Sasuke suddenly asked, as he began opened the doors to his walk-in closet. Sasuke came out looking a minute later. His nightwear was a casual pair of loose blue pyjama pants and a black tank top. He sauntered to his bed, pulled the duvet away, to get in. The switch next to Sasuke's bed was flicked and the light in the entire room went out.

Naruto blinked trying to get used to the darkness. He had never attended school.. "No, I've always been taught in private."

"I see. I was just thinking. I think I would like school more if you were there with me." Sasuke whispered, digging his head into the pillow and turned turning away so Naruto couldn't make out his face at all.

"It would be nice to go to school with you, I'm sure." Naruto chuckled. "Perhaps one day I'll be able to go too."

Sasuke yawned. "That would be nice." Soon after Sasuke's breathing softened out, as he fell into a deep sleep, with a smirk on his face.

Naruto laid awake for another thirty minutes, still like a mouse, before he got up and quietly snuck out of Sasuke's room.

* * *

Naruto felt a dawning sadness fill him up to the brink, he had to stop himself from making choked noises that would wake the sleeping boy up. Slowly treading carefully to avoid creaks, he loomed over Itachi's bed, tears now spilling freely from his cheeks. He looked at the figure of the fox next to him, whose sharp ruby orbs shone dangerously in the dark room.

"Kit. Don't cry, I know it is hard to let go, but there will be other humans who will treat you nicely." The fox whispered.

As if stretching himself, he forced the energy to take shape in his chest, and bent over painfully as if he had to puke, he willed the ball of light to rise from his chest, and opened his mouth to reveal a brilliant sapphire blue, crystal ball that could have easily lid the whole room up with its terribly strong energy. With a last glance at the small fox, Naruto leaned over the dark-haired boy.

There was no mercy in Kurama's eyes.

"Kit. If you die from saving this person, I'm warning you." Kurama sent him a hard look. "They will die at my hand, I will wipe out their whole clan, and anyone related to your demise."

Naruto's blood ran cold and he suddenly stopped, causing the bulb of light to return to his chest as he glanced over at his soul friend. The only friend he was allowed in this long lonely life.

"You mustn't do that Kurama." Those teary blue eyes were like daggers to Kurama. "We will escape, Kabuto together. So don't say that."

"I do not have a choice, my child." The fox said, never looking up. "If you die, my consciousness will die as well. I will become an evil spirit, without control of myself. And… you will never have a chance to be human again, because..."

"Because?"

"Because… you will turn as well, and all you will ever be able to feel is rage and hate. You know how I explained to you about love and those human bonding things?" Kurama asked sympathetically, eyes never leaving Naruto's frail gaze.

Naruto nodded slowly, remembering. Kurama had told him that loving another person was the most dangerous thing in the world, hence why he should avoid friends and people in general if he wanted to live normally. And honestly Naruto didn't know if he _loved_ Itachi, he definitely liked the older boy a lot, but could he give up his strength to save Sasuke's older from a life of darkness? His blood alone had not been able to heal Itachi for some reason, and now… giving up his bead was a whole other issue, he would be able to create a new bead in time but, to Naruto his the bead held most of his life force and without it, he might be so severely crippled that he could die easily, should he suffer any physical damage.

"As long as I don't hurt myself afterwards, it will be fine right?" Naruto inquired, now looking back at the beautiful older boy, who remained soundly asleep, despite the occasional painful grimace that would appear in his pale complexion.

Sighing, Kurama nodded, but then froze in his spot shaking ever so silently. The room became oddly freezing in a matter of seconds. "but…I don't think I can allow you to do this to yourself."

The small fox grew and grew, and a few seconds later the red haired boy, Kurama took its place. Tall and terrible, Kurama looked older than ever. His form was no longer that of a teenager. The childish features, with a bit of extra body fat had smoothened out into a perfectly sculpted, smooth and wrinkle-free face with equally well-proportioned nose and mouth. The wide and soft ruby eyes had become substantially narrowed and sharp, and his playful and sweet smile was gone, to be replaced with a mask that looked only emotionless and calculating.

"Naruto." The red-haired man spoke, and an unfamiliar deep voice rung in his mind. Naruto backed away slightly, seeing nothing left of his dear friend in this big man, who had now turned to the unconscious Itachi with a feral smile spreading ever so slowly and terrifying topaz eyes shining brilliantly, like a beast. The ruby had changed into topaz, and the last trace of his sweet Kurama had disappeared with it.

"Don't touch him!" Naruto mustered the courage to block the others path by throwing himself on top of the other, praying with all his heart that he was too far gone to awaken.

"This pathetic human must die." The beast growled, as his hands' nails grew long and deadly sharp. "You don't understand, whatever feelings you have are nothing but a childish crush! You can't love this human, you don't know what love is!"

Naruto was so scared that he was now trembling and crying but he refused to move away from the boy. Itachi had done nothing to deserve death, nothing at all, and though he felt some strange pull to be near the other he did not _have_ to be. "Kurama, please…" He begged the beast. "If you let me do this, I'll do anything you want me to!"

Kurama's eyes changed back to ruby.

"Anything?" The other stated disbelievingly, teeth still barred, but a flicker of emotion passed the other's eyes.

"I don't love him…I really don't love him, but…. if I don't save him when I have the chance to, I'll forever regret it." The blonde tried to reason, to calm Kurama. Kurama was not gone, he was still inside that beast behind him. He could save Kurama too. "Please respect my feelings."

There was a long silence and the tension in the air hung like a heavy blanket over the room. Then Naruto dared to move away from Itachi a bit to get a better look at him. Itachi was breathing raggedly, fighting the infection in head. He found his worries to have been almost dumb, because the other couldn't wake up, not unless Naruto gave him the energy. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and the claws were retracted.

"Do it fast. Once you are done, you will black out, and I will take you home." The other finally said.

Not wasting any time, he called for the bead and the room was bathed in peaceful blue light, just like before.

Naruto gently cupped the other's face, and leaned down, unable to take his eyes off of Itachi's still closed eyes. He wanted to admire the beautiful face a last time, and allowed himself to stroke, the other's pale cheeks gently, as he glanced at Itachi's eyelashes that seemed so long now. There were dried up trails of tears, running down the side of his face, suggesting that the other had cried in his sleep several times from the burning sensation he must have coped with for a long time now. Naruto knew. He could smell the pain coming from the other's hazy eyes. Fixing his body on top of Itachi he drew closer, by straddling the other and leaned in to capture the other's lips, with his own smaller mouth.

Itachi's lips felt scorching against his, and the mouth a bit dry from the constant strained breaths. A foreign taste made his breath hitch a bit and he could taste the weak salty tinge in the other's saliva when he forced the dry lips apart to gain entry. Naruto felt his chest tighten as he deepened the kiss and with that, gave the final push that made Itachi swallow the bead. He thought of pulling away, but found that he hung on to the kiss, almost painfully as the bead disappeared, down the other's throat and with it, all his strength.

_Now you won't be troubled with worries anymore, right Sasuke?_ He thought. Naruto was losing his consciousness and it happened fast_. You have your brother now, so forget me._

Kurama stood there for a moment longer, watching the child, go limp before he finally lost all power and sagged against the Uchiha - whose hand started twitching – their mouths still connected. The redhead tore the child's lifeless body away from the other, and flung him over his shoulder and jumped out of the window, where both disappeared into the dark moonless night.

* * *

The next morning when Sasuke woke up and looked around in confusion, there was no one next to him. The futon was gone, and his father was home, something that wasn't a regular occurrence, but something felt eerily off and unreal about everything. Had the past weeks, been a strange dream, his brain had written out for him to get through the boredom of his life? Sasuke having a weird neighbour, with an imaginary friend and a snake-like guardian, plus his brother being bedridden with a deadly sickness just did not fit in here, none of those were real, because.

"Good morning Sasuke, did you sleep well?"

His brother was sitting right there near the window eating a croissant and drinking coffee, in front of their father who was reading the paper. And in the window, Sasuke saw the neighbour's house. It was empty and uninhabited leaving no sign of his new friend.

"Are you ok, little brother?"

Naruto was gone, and it was his brother's fault.

* * *

_**Interlude finished**_

* * *

**Please leave a review** and let me know if there's a really horrible mispelling somewhere etc. Concrit is fine, but if people just dislike the way I formulate and structure my sentences, or wants to comment on my beta doing a bad job (I once had that, however if said person had been reading my A/N they would know I had no Beta), then don't bother, rly. , I'll go through spellies later, I'm just too tired right now.

Again, reviews are greatly appreciated and I've read some real gems from all you guys out there. I'm glad my first Naruto fanfic hasn't been a complete flunk. It is always a bit hard to get into the personalities of new characters when you switch to a new fandom.

**Next chapter** will be at out, when people want it badly enough. The time skip, will skip, at least, 7 years. Sasuke and Naruto will both be portrayed very different, from these first few chapters. And well, the rest of the characters will slowly be added to the story.

**I wish everyone a good sunday and hope you enjoy this 8,600 (words) chapter. ^^**


	4. Half empty

**Orenji  
**_Written by _**F**_e_I**l**_a_**_n_**

**Preview Summary**:ツ When an Uchiha speaks, you listen. When an Uchiha offers their hand in friendship, you take it. When an Uchiha wants something, they will have it. So why does his foolish blonde dobe of a neighbour refuse him time and time again? The only logical answer - The boy must be crazy. SasuNaru, Slightly Possessive Sasuke,

**Main Story Summary**: On the outside he was perfection, best face, best physique, best model. Even that darned brother of his was no match for Uchiha Sasuke anymore, so why had Naruto still not returned to his side? It wasn't as if the blonde dobe had no way of finding him. Sasuke had made sure to cover most of the Billboards with his posters for Leafe Entertainment. How blockheaded can a dobe be? SasuNaru, hints of ItachiNaru.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Naruto Universe, or any part thereof.  
**Warning**: No beta, heavy longwinded metaphors and a slightly homophobic Sasuke. Sasuke displays signs of being a control freak, egoist, narcissist, as well as having obsessive- and a possessive tendencies.  
**A/N**: So now some of you, might get confused but in a few days I might consider changing the summary of Orenji to fit the main story. So as stated above, the first three chapters were an interlude all leading up to this. I have changed up on my writing a bit, so I hope it's not too different or uncomfortable for you guys following the adult Sasuke and Naruto. I wrote the interlude in a certain style, because they were kids, so everything was a bit more simplified, if I can say that.

**Some reviewers asked some questions and I'll try to cover what should be revealed.  
**  
- Sasuke blames Itachi, because of intuition, his sudden change/Naruto's fixation on Itachi, etc. He doesn't _hate_ Itachi now per se. However they aren't as close anymore as Itachi would like them to be. He feels his brother is the cause of Naruto's disappearance but...(read the chapter)  
- Naruto is not dead, or reborn, or any of that. He has suffered a small consequence of using his bead so early in life. A consequence that hasn't been revealed yet.  
- Sasuke is still a possessive/obsessive bastard deep inside.  
- Kurama is part of Naruto yes, but he can take physical shape. He is the fox within Naruto. So in a way, the child Naruto portrays the human side of him, whilst Kurama is the demon side of him. The reason Kurama is not evil is because Naruto is so pure, so they balance each other out.

I thank all of you who has shown support for my first Naruto fanfiction :3 it is great to read what you all have to say ^^ And again, ask ask ask, if there is something you are confused about. Thanks everyone for the encouraging words :3 This chapter is dedicated to these reviewers:

**Psycho Check, nobaru rei, sugardash, IWishIWasACheesecake, ToXicStArCaNdy, Yazziyou's Daydreamer, shia naru, yaoiluvur, ovicati, your secret fan (uhh o.o), Killua17, Ezkiel, Ylith, LeyCoo, scarlet, SharinRaven876, sorayuki09, Narutopokefan, onerasu, skyglazingMaro** and all the guests.

* * *

**Orenji**  
Ch. 4  
- Half empty

* * *

The man at the desk, let out a lazy yawn and checked his watch, but no matter how many times he looked, the needle just refused to move any faster. Time was indeed a slow thing , but it was not because he needed to replace the little battery inside his watch, it was simply because it was late in the afternoon, and the sun was still shining brightly. Had it been too humid to be outside he wouldn't have minded it so much, but the weather was perfect due to the light breeze that evened out the abrupt rise in the temperature, that had been shocking the citizens of Konohagakure since Tuesday - just when his time off had ended due to a sick colleague - life was not fair. There was nothing worse than sitting in the reception at Leafe Entertainment the day following one of the company's broadcasts, concerning the label's new models. This always meant that the streets surrounding the building were packed, and anyone passing through were being bombarded by paparazzi and that was always a troublesome affair.

Their newest addition to the their company had been the newbie highschooler, one of their talent scouts, Hatake Kakashi had brought in for an audition just a month ago. The teenager had apparently caused quite an uproar at the high school he had gone to. One of the requirements for joining Leafe had been, that he would be transferred to Chakra high, a notorious private school specializing in the entertainment field, with dance-, singing-, music-, acting,-photographing- and Art classes, for promising young talents, but the rookie had refused, something unheard of that quickly got him the attention of his fellow stars.

Hatake Kakashi had always had an eye for talents, and most of the rookies scouted by him, were a guaranteed success. As such Kakashi was a very important puzzle piece in Leafe and was allowed more freedom than most of the managers and talent scouts, which had started an internal war amongst the others looking to find just the right youth for their own progression in the entertainment business. The Screens hanging from the vaulted ceiling, several places around the reception were replaying yesterday's news yet again, concerning their newest name in the business.

_"To the fans who has followed the recent elimination rounds of our newest group of talents. We have in the past three weeks, witnessed several charming young gentlemen, competing for a contract with Leafe Entertainment, and as we all know, there is only one winner. The final round has come to a close and the votes have been counted. On behalf of Leafe entertainment, we would like to thank all who participated in the voting, in so doing, helping us finalise the end result. We will now present to you: With a lead of 74% in the voting, the last rookie standing... Uchiha Sasuke!_

A curtain was pulled and the raw picture of a fatally pale, black-haired model covered the screen. The man looked lean, but was visibly toned and sculpted in just the right places, which the whole picture seemed to accentuate, but the main part was his clothing and background. He was sitting in the rain, on what appeared to be a rooftop, dressed in a torn traditional formal wear. The wet hakama clung to the male's thighs and legs, whilst his haori laid strewn around him callously, like his left tabi that had come off.

The chest piece of the kimono underneath were just loose enough to expose the chiselled torso beneath it, but it was the man's face and rain-soaked black hair that, demanded its viewer's immediate attention. Piercingly intense obsidian eyes, tinted with a indistinctly yet noticeable red, gazed heart wrenchingly out from the frame, his cherry lips pulled into the tinniest ice cold smirk. Almost as if a magic spell had been dispersed, the hold on the crowd was released in an instant and the flashing of the camera's went crazy almost in unison.

"Iruka-chan!"

The receptionist ducked under the pristine white counter and sighed inwardly as the masked talent scout, Hatake Kakashi strode towards the reception, persistently demanding his attention. These brief meetings with the other man was a regular occurrence which was the benefit or irritation of working for the same label. Kakashi wasn't a bad person but he reminded Iruka of all his failures in life, from his not so strong charisma to his inability to move on from the reception area, where he had been working for years despite holding a very different diploma. Still, this was his reality, stuck as someone worth less than Kakashi despite their equal qualifications.

"Hiding again are we?"

Iruka Umino straightened his back and feigned a welcoming smile.

"Ah, Hatake-san, the car hasn't arrived yet," Iruka said timidly. "I took a call about five minutes ago from the driver and they won't be here for another thirty minutes due to a traffic jam. Some of the main roads have been blockaded to keep the civilians in check."

_Bo ba do ba doop, bo ba do ba doop, ring ring ring ring ring ring ring, banana phoooone~!_

"No problem, no problem, I actually came for you." Kakashi said, as he turned off his phone, without checking the caller ID, but it was clear that the other knew who it was.

"F-for me?" Iruka hesitated, trying to make sense of the situation. What business could Hatake Kakashi have with him?

"Yep, the big lady upstairs wants to see you!" Kakashi grinned, as he leant on the counter, watching the brunette with a attentive eye as he thrummed his fingers on the granite stone desk. The big lady, was by no means called big due to excessive body fat, but because of the size of her bosom. She was also known as their feared, undisputed president, Tsunade.

"Tsunade-sama wants to see me?" Iruka asked with disbelief. It had to be one of Kakashi's jokes.

Kakashi shrugged. "Who else. Let's go." And with that Kakashi spun around strolling through the lounge, back towards the elevators with a suspicious Iruka on tow.

Iruka had only seen floor one to eighteen in his six years of working here, and he knew the floors above were where the managers like Kakashi resided. Kakashi had whilst bragging briefly told him about the studios on floor twenty-two to twenty-seven, and when he had snuck off to the bathroom and passed the elevators, he had seen a map over the elevator system in the building. Apparently there was not only twenty floors - as one would presume had they not had a good view of the building from the street - but the trip to the top had been divided into three different sets of elevators, two of each covering twenty floors, with the last elevator going to floor fifty-two, meaning that the main building was a modest skyscraper with its fifty-two floors, covered in glass from its mid-section and up, where the offices were. The studios had no windows, and when Iruka had asked about it Kakashi had explained that it was due to the media's obsession with peeking in on their trainees and models at work that had led to the decision.

"Are you getting in?" Kakashi inquired when seeing how Iruka had stopped up to look at the map yet again with an absentminded expression of shock on his face. The silver-haired man sighed. This was going to take a bit longer than he had expected. Finally Iruka snapped out of his thoughts and got in with a nervous smile, adorning his face.

"Do you know...?"

"She doesn't usually bite, Iruka." The other responded dryly as they ticked past floor forty-three. The brunette raised an eyebrow at that. _Usually?_

Silence dominated the elevator compartment, as they passed the remaining floors, till finally it came to a soundless halt. Doors swung open, only revealing a single hallway with a small desk at the end with an occupied secretary, talking heatedly with someone on the other end of the call. Then Iruka noticed. Aside from the dark wooden panelling covering the hallway's walls, and a couple of decorative plants and portraits, there was no doors. His questioning look at answered when Kakashi blinked at the secretary to stopped chatting for a moment and pressed a button with a smile. Almost instantaneously, one of the walls moved out and slid aside to reveal the office behind it.

"Tsunade-sama, is available now." The secretary announced.

Iruka walked in with a nervous smile plastered to his face, focusing his eyes on the smooth black stone floor, that reflected most of the room, for him to see. And what he did see shocked him just a bit. Over at the grand desk, behind her computer and a golden nameplate, sat their President with a tray containing several bottles of Sake, which she was currently pouring into a small cup. He finally dared to look up, where he was met with her dreary glare as she raised the cup and emptied it in one big swig, like it was just regular water.

For six years, six long years he had been working for an alcoholic, that was one hard pill for Iruka to finally swallow but here he was, facing the big boss, and he couldn't believe what she had to say to him or rather, _about_ him.

"Is this the man you've been talking about Kakashi? When did we hire this guy?" Tsunade's gaze fell on Kakashi, who faced her fearlessly with an expression of tranquillity, like everything was as it should be.

"Yes, President, he has been a steadfast receptionist for six years now." Kakashi mused.

The woman stood up and walked gracelessly towards Iruka, who remained rooted to his spot, as if moving or fidgeting about could have dire consequences. The president stopped up a few steps from him, taking her chance to study him closer. "Hmm, I seeee." She slurred, finally looking into his eyes. "What is your name son, I can't keep calling you 'man' can I?"

Iruka wondered, why in the world a woman who looked the same age as him would call him son, of all things.

"Iruka Umino." Iruka said in such a low voice that he wasn't entirely sure if she had heard him. Tsunade walked towards the giant window and rested her hands on her waist, whilst gazing out on the city beneath, where people looked like ants in the streets.

"Do you like kids, Iruka?" She finally asked, without turning around.

_Huh?_

"Yes?"

"That is good, because we have a whole building full of them!" He could hardly make sense of what she said next. "Welcome onboard Manager Umino. You may report in at the managing office on the twenty-seventh floor immediately. Your personal belongings have already been taken care of and..."

* * *

Most people don't realise certain things till they are in a specific situation themselves. You hear a friend talk about a stalker and you sense the fear in the way they act, but you don't know just how much that fear weighs upon their shoulders, you can't, in all honesty relate or claim to understand. Say, if you were locked inside a black box, you don't know how you got there, and you can't see a thing, the only natural thing would be to scream at the top of your lungs, for help. So far so good, but to be noticed, you might have to scream a lot, because that help you are searching for could appear any second, and if you scream so much that you lose your voice, you certainly won't be noticed, and perhaps along the way you start to wallow in self-pity and lose track of your goal, because you are starting to wonder if you will _die_ in here, forgotten. Well, sucks for you doesn't it? Instead of doing what you see other's do, or imagining that you are playing the part of a victim in a crime series, who everyone is desperately trying to find, and you know they _will _find you, because _hey_, it's TV. Why not take the whole TV thing to real life and make it reality? That's what he did - in a way.

What would you do if you were looking for someone, and that person you were looking for happened to be looking for you as well? Obvious answer, check in with an agency that specialises in tracking down people, right? Nah, he had already tried that, and what a waste of time it had been. Instead, he had taken a few steps further than that, he had taken matters into his own hands. How you say? By forcing other's to notice you, that is the key. Make them notice you so there won't be a single person who doesn't know your name and you will never be lost a day in your life. Perchance, this is not the easiest solution for most people, but for him it was just fine, he was naturally noticed, so it hardly took any extra effort to keep the billboards, covered with _his_ posters. It was his face, on the latest HOT! magazine and it was his damn TV commercial playing at prime-time between the Sport Games and highest rated Dramas. Now, if that wasn't enough for that stupid dobe to find him or at least know where he was, he would have to go for more drastic measures, and that would require some rethinking of his plans, something he was exceptionally good at. Albeit, for now, he was reduced to sitting in a classroom with a ton of his fans surrounding him like hungry vultures. Figure a solution for that, would you. He couldn't so he did the next best thing. He ignored them, completely and utterly ignored them.

No matter what actions he could have taken though, the result remained the same, so the sudden added exposure was already a normal thing, and whatever fans he had acquired along the way were kept in check by the original fans. So, when Leafe had demanded his transfer to Chakra High he had blankly refused, for the sake of up keeping some semblance of a normal life. Eight long years had gone by now though, and despite his part time job as a new model, nothing really made him happy. There was no depression or anything like that, he knew what was wrong with him, but he had not found a person yet who could fix him, so to keep from losing himself in the crowd he had chosen to rise above it.

Aside from his fans, who were satisfied with silently watching him from afar, the people from the entertainment industry he had been forced to interact with, had turned out to be a very judgemental bunch. Either they disliked him, loved him, hated him, stalked him, envied him or smack talked him, it was one or two, maybe all of them at once. He had heard it all to oblivion, but that part of him that should be _hurt _or _pleased _when someone said something about him, be it positive or negative, _that_ part of him that cared about what others really thought of him was gone now.

'_Sasuke Uchiha is the son of Uchiha Corporation's CEO, of course they had to accept him_.', _'I heard he couldn't smile at the audition, always the same cold, aloof expression, what did the judges see in him, honestly?_', _'It is outrageous for some amateur to get a debut within a month_.', _'He is Kakashi-sensei's talent, that's why he is treated differently_.'

None of it mattered, because whilst his supposed equals were busy talking behind his back, he would be there working hard to achieve what others could not. No strangers, doctors or psychiatrists could take that from him, it was an evident achievement. _That_ he would let no one disproof, like they had the happiest part of his childhood, by twisting the words in his mouth and making him out to be some miserable nutcase, who had made up a story about his murdered neighbour, Kabuto Yakushi.

Sasuke had mechanically clenched a fist, whilst his face remained calmly attentive to a lecture on classic literature. The remainder of his class, was spent secretly reading through a neat little bundle of manuscripts for upcoming CMs that his manager, Hatake Kakashi wanted him to try-out for. One in particular caught the Uchiha's discerning eye. It was a simple script, without co-actors or models to worry about. He hated all the recent offers for MV promos he had received from female artists looking for a male lead they could molest onset and create rumours about in an effort to gain publicity. When Sasuke had first joined - as a contestant for the two year contract, with Leafe- , the touchy subject of being seen with someone of the opposite sex had hit him hard, when the Haruno family's daughter Sakura had pounced him on the street and fans had started taking pictures. A few hours later the internet had been buzzing and the forums were alive, with both fans and haters talking about his vulgar escapades with several bizarre ladies, he could have sworn he had never in his life met before.

The agency had used this incident to further probe him about a possible transfer to Chakra high, which he had again refused. And like all good domino puzzles, a chain reaction is created. The next thing he knew, it was rookies from his own company who were pointing fingers, talking about how his choice of going to a normal school was, yet again - well of course -, an action made for the sole purpose of showing off his fanatic craving for special treatment.

Yes, indeed. Sasuke Uchiha was by all means one of the hottest _bad boys_ out there, and that was the image Kakashi had predicted would work best for him in the long run. What could he say, it came naturally.

Class ended, and whilst some rushed to the cafeteria , others stayed behind and giggled whilst browsing for music videos on an iPad.

"Sasuke-sama," Sasuke vaguely felt a presence next to him, it was that damn Haruno girl again. "Why didn't you work with Ino Yamanaka?"

Ino. Ino. Ino. Who was Ino again? She must've been one of the MV artists that Sasuke had rejected working with.

Sakura Haruno, looked at him expectantly, but Sasuke was too busy trying to determine whether he should answer the pink haired girl for the simple fact that she was head of his fan club or if he should watch her squirm, whilst humiliating herself, like the rest of the females. He chose the latter and went back to reading.

"Don't overstep your boundaries Sakura, he clearly doesn't want to talk to you." One of the other females sneered, protectively. Such a good puppy, Sasuke smirked to himself.

Huffing indignantly the Haruno girl left his classroom and he already felt less sick to his stomach than before. The wacky stories about him an Sakura had eventually died down once people realised that he wanted nothing to do with the pesky pinkette and also treated her as such. He had long ago stopped doing what his family wanted, so whatever relation to the Haruno's his father had now meant nothing to him. His brother had more of less taken up the heavy responsibility in Uchiha Corp, where he had now become a director. The media had been following his brother's success in expanding the east branch of the company and Itachi had claimed the coveted title as this month's richest and most unattainable bachelor. What surprised Sasuke just a little though, was that Itachi had still not married despite their father's obvious frustrations over his single status, but he could not disown his capable heir over wanting to remain single. This had created a tension between Itachi and their father, something Sasuke praised himself lucky, to not be a part of. Itachi was Itachi after all, he wasn't a complete puppet like Sasuke had thought he was once upon a time. He knew better though, his brother had someone on his mind and it was someone he couldn't tell their father about. Perhaps he was gay?

Sasuke involuntarily shuddered a bit. Sasuke had himself had some uncomfortable meetings with some of the celebrity world's gay people, and despite remaining neutral to the idea of other's sexualities, he still would prefer none of that circus near him. The stereotypical attention-craving, much-too-talkative, emotional and completely crazy gay people who acted out on media in a certain manner and stereotype that was expected of them only proved to worsen his idea of the gay community. Itachi had better not be one of them, or Sasuke would have to cut complete and utter contact with his family to not get his career involved with that. Itachi and Sasuke had grown apart over the span of years as siblings, so he really did not know much about his brother's life anymore, except what any random person could read on some online blog.

A buzzing from his pocket, forced him to dig in and pull out his iPhone. _'The car is waiting outside.'_ his screen read.

He packed what little amount of books he had used and left the class. At the door he was met with a crowd from the other classes that had turned into a mass outside the door trying to get a peek. Running a cold gaze over his crowd of fans, made the giggling girls part like the sea before Moses. Wasting no time with listening to flattery, Sasuke looked at his phone, to avoid meeting the eyes of his fans as he passed the crowd in peace, or the closest to peace he had come to these days.

His driver was awaiting him just outside the entrance where a small group of paparazzi and reporters had gathered, as they were forbidden to enter his school without a proper permission. Pulling up his hood, he covered his face with shades and walked through the crowd, almost holding his breath to maintain a serene expression.

"Saaaaasuke! It's really him! Sasuke Uchiha. Hey look here! You are so hot!"

"Is it true you turned down a MV with Ino Yamanaka?"

"What cologne do you use? Please! Please let us know!"

"Will there be a biography coming out anytime soon?!"

"Can I have your autograph please, my daughter loves you!"

He switched off the noise of the fans' yelling and the reporters' questions as he waded through, to the open car, where he jumped in and let his driver smack the door shut in front of their faces. He let out an exasperated sigh and ran his hand through his hair. Sasuke had been to school only four hours, and here he was on his way to Leafe, with a splitting headache pressing on. Biting in the pain he grabbed, a small case from his school bag and opened the lid saying _Thursday_ on it with big blue letters. Dazedly, he tipped its contents into the palm of his hands and quickly counted to seven, making sure they were all there, and with a smooth motion he threw the handful into his mouth and looked around, trying to find his Evian. Spotting the cup holder on his left, he reached out for the bottle and hastily unscrewed the lid and drank a good half litre of water.

The young man relaxed his tense shoulders and let himself sink back into the seat, where he casually watched the street and buildings fly past him. The colours all meshed for his inner eye, and then the car stopped moving, because they had hit a traffic jam. That was when he spotted something that made him move closer to the window. Because out there on the street, was a food stand with one customer. His hair looked bright blonde. It couldn't be. Fate was just playing a cruel joke on him now. A really cruel joke.

A really stupid...coincidence that couldn't possibly be?

The driver yelled after him, when the door opened, but Sasuke ignored him, and although he refused to stoop as low as to run ungracefully like a longing fool, he still walked, _very fast_ across the street towards the little shabby stand. A little shabby _Ramen_ stand.

_"I like miso-flavoured r-ramen.."  
_  
He liked Ramen, more than anything.

And then, he was standing there behind the blonde boy, feeling that odd pounding in his chest he had not experienced for so long. Unsure of what to do or say, as the other turned around to look at him. "Naru.."... with his small black eyes and bushy black eyebrows. His hair was bleached and it was a very bad bleach on top of that, with its orange-y-yellow colour of piss and the greasy black roots. Sasuke stood there in shock. That just confirmed that a small part of him still believed that Naruto was of this world. It also meant, that he hadn't been disillusioned completely yet. Why was a bittersweet fantasy more preferable than real life, he did not know.

"Excuse me?"

"No nothing, you just resembled someone I know." The Uchiha growled and walked away, with a tranquillity that surprised even him. That weird dude looked nothing like his childhood friend at all. He felt guilt towards his blonde dobe. For _ever_ comparing him to this pathetic riff-raff.

If only he could have kept him by his side, the Sasuke would have spent the night on their old sofa with him, watching shitty comedy till they both fell alseep. And then waking up to see the face of his sleeping imaginary friend, Naruto Uzumaki.

* * *

The flaxen-haired boy cocked his head from his crouching position in front of the display area, where he hungrily eyed the foods, completely unaware of the attention he received for by passers, who were drawn to his striking blonde spikes. Why, why, why, this was unacceptable, there was sandwiches, mochi, melon-pans, dangos, and curry bread and a ton of other different delicacies in the food display case. But where was the ramen? Or at least just noodles, or...or something, tasty and liquidly!

Said blonde hadn't had anything to eat for four whole hours and the food on the plane had been so poor, it frozen meals that tasted like flour and salt, and besides if that wasn't bad enough the portions they gave you hardly served as a snack! Still hungry? Here grab a snickers. Fuck no.

"Mou...I'm so hungryyyy..." His stomach growled loudly in agreement. So loud in fact that the girl behind the desk immediately noticed him sitting there behind the display drooling like a homeless creep. "..ehehe." The boy scratched the back of his head sheepishly before standing up.

"Would you like to order...sir?" The girl had hesitated upon seeing the boy. At first she was sure it had been a mischievous young child, who had been sitting there in front of their shop. Now when he stood up in full life-size she saw a young adult. The boy, or man had the most brilliant blue depths, she could almost lose herself in, although there was something childish about him, perhaps it was that confident smile and the heart-on-his-sleeve aura that put people around him at ease.

"Have you got any ramen, I tell you, I'm starving for some of that right now!" The blonde whined whilst clutching his stomach as if he was in pain.

The girl chuckled warmly, before looking almost apologetic. "I'm sorry, sir. We only have food, for people on the go, who are just looking to satisfy their hunger."

"But Ramen doesn't take that long to make!" The blonde argued back, suddenly looking very upset, with hunched shoulders and downturned lips.

"Ramen and noodles must be enjoyed at a table, it has no place here at a corner shop in an airport." She said. "But, perhaps you would like a Yakisoba-bread for now?"

Naruto glared for a second but then thought about it for a moment. Being on the verge of having an anatomical breakdown from lack of some...nutrients, _any_ nutrients in fact, demanded that he should eat something now. Even this Yakisoba-bread filled with noodles. For the sake of survival.

"Ok ok, anything will do, I'm dyying here... four of those Yakisoba thingies please." The blonde finally said, ignoring the shocked seller.

And that is how a confused Iruka found the blonde boy, thirty minutes later. On some bench near the shop, still busy stuffing his face.

_"...your first assignment will be awaiting you at Konoha Airport at 8 PM. Remember Manager, he will be your responsibility from now on, I wish you the best of luck!"  
_  
He braced himself for a first meeting and stiffly approached the blonde boy.

"Are you, Naruto Uzumaki?"

Before the blonde got to react to his question, the girl from the store came up to Iruka with a bill. "That would be 5400 ¥, for your son's meal sir."

* * *

Read and review :]

Hope it didn't turn out too bad ^^''


	5. Naruto Uzumaki

_Written by _**F**_e_I**l**_a**n**_

**Preview Summary**:ツ When an Uchiha speaks, you listen. When an Uchiha offers their hand in friendship, you take it. When an Uchiha wants something, they will have it. So why does his foolish blonde dobe of a neighbour refuse him time and time again? The only logical answer - The boy must be crazy. He just never knew this craziness was contagious. SasuNaru, minor ItachiNaru, Slightly Possessive/Obsessive Sasuke and Crazy Naruto.

**Main Story Summary**: On the outside he was perfection, best face, best physique, best model. Even that darned brother of his was no match for Uchiha Sasuke anymore, so why had Naruto still not returned to his side? It wasn't as if the blonde dobe had no way of finding him. Sasuke had made sure to cover most of the Billboards with his posters for Leafe Entertainment. How blockheaded can a dobe be? SasuNaru, hints of ItachiNaru.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Naruto Universe, or any part thereof.  
**Warning**: No beta, heavy longwinded metaphors. Bad Naruto, 2 character deaths mentioned.  
**A/N:** Sorry to all who have waited for this chapter, I meant to finish it sooner, but I've had a sick lover to tend to, and well...he is one whiny kid when something hurts. And god, why oh why does Doc Manager want to change Sasuke's name into 'Sapsucker'!

* * *

The cool night air sifted through the soft, spiky locks of black hair, that framed the pale face of the shivering boy. He glanced up at the half-eaten moon above and hoped, really hoped that his friend would be there. It was so dark that he could hardly tell what he stepped on as he crawled through the clutter of branches and stumps, from where the bush had been cut recently. He stood still upon seeing the limp figure of the shorter blonde laying in grass spread out as if he had been trying to make snow-angels.

"Hn, so you waited for me after all." Sasuke said with the faintest smile grazing his lips, but it was enough for anyone to see that the raven was amused by it all. The blonde boy jerked up, and settled himself into a sitting position, with his legs tugged under him and that sweet look of confusion. It was as if Naruto had merely been sleeping, just a moment ago, but the blonde sported telltale glossed blue eyes indicating that he might in fact have dozed off for a couple of minutes. Yesterday, had not been a dream after all, Sasuke had been here in this very garden with Naruto. Talking, laughing, teasing and playing with Naruto, and they had decided to meet again tonight, and it would seem that Naruto had, despite how shy he was, still come out waiting for Sasuke.

"No.." Naruto muttered hesitantly, facing downwards and looking almost shy. "I just didn't want you to stay out here waiting for me." _So shy._ Sasuke mused to himself.

"You care a lot about me then." The Uchiha smirked, but stopped dead in his tracks as he got closer, seeing Naruto look up at him with sad eyes. It made something inside him clench a bit, and had him involuntarily ask without thinking. "What is wrong? Did something happen?"

"No, I'm just wondering why I'm alive." The little blonde mumbled thoughtfully with blue eyes as deep as the ocean. Sasuke felt strange when Naruto looked at him like that, with compelling eyes so deep and lonely that he couldn't resist the invisible pull to be near the other, was Naruto aware of the influence he had on Sasuke, and how good it felt to just be _near_ the other, for some unexplainable reason that he still failed to comprehend.

Remaining silent, he plopped down next to Naruto, so close that their legs were softly grazing one another's. He wondered for a moment if he was too close, but since Naruto didn't pull away from the small touch - the frail connection they shared - neither would he.

"So the dobe has become a philosopher all of a sudden." Sasuke murmured softly, as Naruto laid back down into the grass and ignored the taunt. "Isn't it obvious though. You need to live to become the best, you can't be a dobe forever. "

"The best at what?" Naruto asked curiously, looking up at Sasuke expectantly.

"Best at being best, duh."

Naruto pouted. "No one can be the best at being best!"

Sasuke chuckled. "Right, that would be impossible for you, because that would mean you should best me. Never gonna happen."

"Answer seriously, teme!"

"Hn. Don't you have some goal in life? Like to become something, like a fire-fighter, or a garbage man?" Sasuke hid a small smile, as the suggestions were still being processed in the other's mind.

"You're such a meanie..." Naruto scowled. "I have a much better dream than that!"

"Oh really? Please do share it." Sasuke watched the other with an intensity, he wasn't aware he possessed. Yet again, there were so many things that only Naruto had been able to bring forth in him. Should he attempt to be nicer to the blonde? Sasuke chewed that thought for a moment

"I want to be human." The seriousness in Naruto's beautiful eyes could almost have fooled him.

"Nice...the dobe thinks he is being funny. You would make a terrible human." Sasuke said with sarcasm, as he laid down next to the other, a smirk in place.

Sasuke counted the seconds waiting and preparing for an explosion of swears to fly over his head but when nothing was said he turned to look at his friend. He was expecting Naruto to glare, but was caught off guard upon hearing the blonde sniff next to him, his chest ached painfully at what he saw. Glistening eyes, more blue than the sea and more striking than a pair of sapphires, were looking back at him with bottomless despair that made Sasuke forget how to breathe.

Tonight, for the first time in his life he did not know what to do. Was this the painful feeling that people would call regret?

_- Memory Fragment_

* * *

**Orenji**  
Ch. 5  
- Naruto Uzumaki

* * *

Astonished the brunette stood there as he tried to process the situation in front of him that demanded his immediate attention. There was one blonde boy with sauce smeared on his lips and mischievous blue eyes watching him without a care in the world, and then there was the other one, who appeared to be an impatient sales woman from a nearby corner shop. The blonde boy was sitting - _peacefully_ - with a small tower of white take away boxes. The woman was standing in front of Iruka - with her bulgy arms on her hips, giving him a sharp look - and demanding money for something, the blonde boy was...still eating.

"Meal? Wha-" Iruka stopped as the puzzle came together. "The kid didn't pay?"

"Of course not, he has been waiting here for you for over an hour!" The woman scoffed at seeing Iruka's look of confusion and it only seemed to aggravate the angry hen mother further. "You are a horrible father you know that? Letting your son starve and wait here for hours without a single yen on him!" Eyebrows twitched, but the woman continued reprimanding him. "Your kind disgusts me.."

"What...Im not his-" Iruka began defensively, waving his arms in desperation. What the hell had he gotten himself into. He soon realised that he should have never bothered explaining anything to this woman, she looked now like she was ready to jump him, still fully under the impression that he was a lousy father leaving his kid to rot in an airport with no money. What was this world coming to. Was there any possible way to negotiate with a woman who so sincerely thought she was doing what was right. The sales woman refused to listen like he had expected but what he didn't expect was being threatened.

"Now you listen here! Either you pay now or I will call the security guards here this instant!" The woman hollered, face distorted into something terrifying, resembling the Oni masks, that Iruka's mother had loved to collect, more than anything - and Iruka had discarded those in a dumpster for a reason.

"What! I'll pay just calm down ok, miss." Iruka gave in, when he felt too uncomfortable under the scrutinizing stares of the people around them. "5400¥, right?"

The woman weighed his gaze for a moment before grabbing the money he held out in stretched arm. With a last look at the blonde and a nod the woman said "Kid, if your parent bails on you ever again, don't hesitate to call the social services, ok?"

Naruto nodded swiftly as he swallowed the last piece of his Yakisoba-bread, before turning to Iruka - after making sure the seller had left- with an apologetic smile, that alone could have made Iruka do a double-take. "Wow, you handled her well!" Was this kid for real. No, not kid, man. The blonde had a throaty voice that was a bit shocking for his baby face and the way he dressed himself, in such, childish clothing. Bright orange slacks, and a rug sack with some hideous frogs printed on its sides. One orange, one green, and one red. None of it fit together, and perhaps this was why the youth had unconsciously gained so much attention from his surroundings.

"That is all you have to say for yourself after the problems you just caused?" Iruka uttered disbelievingly as the boy chuckled noticeably. What a nerve this teenager had. Iruka did not want to admit it, but his anger seemed to seep away like dew in the sunlight, when witnessing a bright smile spread across the blonde's distinctive face. Upon further inspection of the bubbly blonde, Iruka changed his mind about the boy's clothes. On any other person, a bright colour like orange would have taken away focus from the person's face, but like this, perhaps it was for the best. After all with a face like this, it was a wonder he wasn't constantly bothered by onlookers.

Iruka couldn't help but notice the charismatic whisker-like scars that seemed to curve a bit upwards when the boy smiled, and how it emphasized his otherwise flawless sun-kissed body. All these features combined gave the blonde an exotic appeal that would without a doubt place him in one of the higher categories when it came to looks, but what stood out the most was the dazzling deep-set eyes that had been watching him for a while now.

They were an intense blue, like the sea reflecting the sky on a clear day, a shade Iruka had only seen on photoshopped model pictures, but this was not the effect created by a program, these eyes were the real deal, and Tsunade had given him responsibility for this boy. He suddenly felt like a heavy burden had been gracefully dumped on his shoulders, it had just hit him so softly at first that he hadn't realised that it amounted to this. Was the boy experienced? Or was he a fresh face that Tsunade had kept hidden up her sleeve, he could hardly believe it. Someone this gorgeous, why would the president give him - a newly appointed manager - that responsibility and not Hatake Kakashi, it was beyond absurd, this child could definitely be an instant success. Something was very fishy about it all.

"I'm really sorry," The blonde said calmly at first but his face was a mask trying to hold something back, then just as Iruka had caught on, he laughed to himself sheepishly. "I would have intervened if she really had called the guards though! Haha! I really am sorry though, trust me."

"I somehow doubt that right now." Iruka muttered mostly to himself, but the blonde heard it.

"I wouldn't have let the guards take you away, I simply believed that anyone that old hag sent could handle a small incident like this." The other simply stated with a shrug and a tug at his lips that turned into half a smile, it was enough to subdue most people. "No harm done, right?"

Iruka would let it go for now, their first impression of each other had already been extreme enough. "No harm. So, my name is Umino Iruka, and you are Naruto Uzumaki right? Just making sure."

"The one and only." Naruto grinned charmingly, and with that he got up and held out his hand. "Nice meeting ya, Iruka!" Naruto grabbed his hand and shook it firmly, with a hidden strength that even Iruka didn't anticipate. He was convinced now that Naruto was packing a good punch under his black baggy t-shirt, despite that slim figure of his.

"So, uh Iruka... you're my new caretaker?"

Naruto let go of his hand and looked straight through him, at something in the distance.

"... I'm not your caretaker. If you must know, I was simply sent here to pick you up. I'm your new manager." Iruka explained before Naruto's attention was diverted back to him, and the blonde gave him an odd look. Then blue eyes eventually softened as if the blonde had in mere seconds solved a complicated riddle.

"Did you talk with the old hag?" Naruto asked calmly, again he looked away to examine the waiting hall as if he was trying to spot someone, hiding around them.

"Who?"

"Tsunade-baba, of course." Naruto said curtly. "Who knows, what that woman is up to."

"Yes..." Had he just agreed that their president was a hag? Iruka quivered. And why did this boy speak so informally of Tsunada-sama? Naruto was dangerous if he could speak of their president like that so casually. That violent woman would without a doubt go apeshit on the blonde if she knew how crude the boy's language was. He wanted to scream inside, not only Tsunade-sama's name was being thrown around so casually. His own too, where was the manners?! He already dreaded the interviews, should the boy ever get the least bit famous.

"Well then," Naruto said tentatively, and the brunette could almost hear the grin in his voice. "I think you have misunderstood something, Iru_ka_."

An eyebrow rose in question."And what would that be."

"If the hag sent you it means you are stuck with me now, so let's go! I've been here long enough! Any complaints you have should be taken up with the hag, not me." Naruto continued pleasantly slowly strolling towards the parking lot with his little frog ransack, forcing the brunette to follow suit. "I had little choice in coming here."

"Who are you..." No, _what_ are you.

"Naruto," The blonde said, dead serious as they walked on. "I thought you already knew my name, silly Iruka-."

"You know what I meant. What is your relation with the president of Leafe?" Iruka demanded answers, and he wanted them now. And perhaps the boy could sense this because his mouth clamped shut for a minute.

"Is the car this way, Iruka?" The blonde asked nonchalantly, eyeing the sign that proclaimed basement level three.

"Just over there." He automatically responded before face palming at how easily the other had dodged his previous question and yet continued to smile at him, like his silence hadn't been rude enough.

"Ne, Iruka, do you have any children?"

"I'm only twenty eight-" He starts defensively, then stops himself when Naruto lets out a chuckle. "No."

"Guess I'll be your only kid then," Naruto said, blue eyes lazily watching the ground he walked on instead of looking at him. "You know.. since we will be living together and all that."

Having finally gotten used to the other's weird fashion sense, Iruka somehow found it odd how the other could even think to refer to himself as a kid, when he actually looked quite a lot older to Iruka now, which is why he bristled at the thought whenever the other hinted at their new relationship as charge and guardian, he felt much too young to have to take care of a child, especially one this big! The teen wasn't so bad, when it came down to it, but he knew nothing about the other. Then one pressing question came to mind. "Naruto-kun, how old are you?"

Blue eyes looked up to meet his, attentively weighing if there was something more to the question. "I'm seventeen," The blonde started out carefully. "But...um, I've been sick a lot as a child, which is why I, well, look like this. I grow a bit slower because of it." Naruto murmured, sounding a bit dejected. "But I still have a few more years to grow!"

"I understand." The older brunette left it at that as he pulled out a set of keys from his pocket and clicked the little button on his car key, which made a nearby car blink a few times before loudly unlocking. He was about to open the trunk but Naruto stopped him, insisting he would rather keep his bag on his lap. The drive home was wet and murky, and the ground muddy and soggy, leaving no sign of the sunny weather from the past few days. The usual depressing mood the grey weather would have generally left on him, wasn't creeping up on him yet. Maybe because sunshine personified was sitting in the passenger's seat next to him, cranking up the radio volume whilst looking around the wet street outside with the expression of a child on Christmas eve.

"It's been so long, since I've seen Japan." The other finally commented a bright smile gracing his soft lips.

"Have you been away from Japan for a long time?" Iruka asked, sneaking another peek at the other.

"Ah, yes. It must have been about 7 or 8 years since I set a foot here. I've been travelling around a lot you see." Naruto clarified excitedly. "England, Ireland, France, Sweden, Germany and several other countries around Europe."

"Travelling the world like that must have been expensive." Iruka noted suspiciously.

Naruto shrugged, running a hand through his unruly blonde locks, that were framing his face in a now dishevelled fashion, as he quietly observed his hands with an expression of nostalgia. "Not really, I worked here and there, where I could, no biggie, it was exciting you know. I definitely helped me overcome some of my insecurities of being an orphan."

"Still, how did you manage all that time alone?" Iruka asked in awe, that someone this young had moved so far and wide alone.

"I wasn't alone, Jiraiya-sensei was with me. He has taken care of me for god knows how long now." Naruto smiled sadly at the memory. "Him and the hag are old pals or something I believe. She took contact to me a-after.."

A rapid darkness overcame the sunny teen, as he stopped talking, and Iruka could have sworn he felt a drop in temperature. Naruto stared into nothing with an unreadable face. Iruka had a dawning feeling, in the pit of his stomach, warning him against pushing the other to continue. Naruto's mouth had tightened into a thin line as he decided how much to disclose. Finally after another moment of stillness he finishes. "He died."

And that signalled the end of any further conversation - that could have been - for the remaining duration of the drive. Iruka couldn't tell at this point in time whether he should feel relieved or disappointed.

* * *

With the moon still high in the early morning sky, the breeze from the half-open window at the end of the long and narrow living-room, gently brushed against the tan skin which in return formed vague goose bumps at the touch of cold. The sleeping body, curled up on the couch shifted slightly at the touch and a blue eye cracked open, sleepily taking in the unfamiliar surroundings of a strangers home.

The ceiling was low, and the walls were slanted on both sides, making it only the more obvious that it was a rooftop-apartment, conveniently placed in the heart of Konohagakure. Despite being a bit small, it was like each piece of furniture - from the golden-brown corner sofa to the black wooden shelves that hung from the only flat part of the ceiling, abruptly dividing the other end of the room in two smaller sections - was specifically crafted to fit in, which just went to show how much effort, Iruka put into taking care of his home.

Provoked by the lights in the distance, Naruto had gotten up and was now sitting near the window, taking in the night view of the city. Lights cascaded, in multiple reflections on the nearby glass buildings some streets away, and he spotted a small group of youths, crossing the street in a lazy manner, where one of them stumbled and fell, before two others quickly aided her in getting back up. Blue eyes watched with fascination as the group walked off into the horizon and eventually merged into the softening velvet sky, slowly brightening in the distance. _It a Thursday night_, Naruto mused to himself as he tried to come up with an explanation as to why these students were out so late on a school day when the weekend was but a day away.

"You are no better, Naruto."

A burst of red, took shape next to the unmoving blonde whose lips pulled into a slight smile, at the familiar voice. Kurama stood tall behind him, so close that he could feel the heat from the other's body gently surround him comfortingly, as the redhead had drawn his back into a tight embrace. The blonde stiffened momentarily before leaning into the welcoming warmth. Kurama was slightly bigger than him still, but he hadn't aged a day, unlike Naruto. Kurama was the same, the only consistent part of his life, that lingered through the years.

"I'm a lot better." Naruto finally said assertively, never taking his eyes off the street beneath. A moment later he put his arms on the other's, pressing down lightly to reciprocate the other's hold. "But if you don't agree, why don't you _make_ me the best I can be?"

Sometimes Naruto just wished the other would control him, control his body and live his life for him. Because Naruto didn't like the world he had seen, but Kurama refused to let Naruto escape into the world of his mind by moving his body for him.

"Don't get cocky, you're still just a brat. Since when did you become like this, _he_ must have rubbed off on you, because I assure you, it wasn't me." Kurama growled lowly, but there was no bite to the redheads words. His arms tensed their hold slightly, before laying his head against Naruto's tan shoulder.

_He_, was their teacher and parent, Jiraiya-sensei. The only human Kurama had come to respect.

"Ne, Kura-nii. What should I do about Iruka?"

"You didn't tell him..." Kurama accused.

"Why bother? It was just another one of that old hag's attempts at making me join her stupid company." Naruto said with an indifference, that Kurama didn't like one bit. Naruto had become increasingly wild and uncaring after Jiraiya's death. And perhaps Kurama had been at fault too. They should have never let Jiraiya travel back to Japan alone, knowing their situations were bound to cause the inevitable. Their beloved teacher who had saved the ten year old Naruto had paid the price for their freedom. When their old gang had realised his role in Naruto's escape from Japan, seven years ago, they had haunted down the man looking for clues. Whether Naruto blamed himself, was unclear to the fox, because the boy had completely closed off that part of his mind.

It all started eight years ago, when the boy had severely crippled himself by giving away his precious bead to a sick human, whom he had taken a liking to. Kurama had let it happen, and had regretted it ever since that day. Instead the fox should have forced Naruto to see reason, or just have secretly finished the older Uchiha off, the boy had been practically dead anyway. It had fucked everything up, that could have been fucked up.

Naruto had gotten involved with the wrong kids, during the remainder of their short stay in Japan seven years ago, just after leaving Konohagakure and Kabuto behind. On that faithful night, Kurama had been forced to control Naruto's body to defend them against Kabuto's rage. Their guardian had realised what they had done with the neighbour boy, whom he had secretly planned to cure with Naruto's blood if the father had coughed up the right amount of money. A money loss, that had caused the man to see red. Weakened as they were Kurama had killed their first human, something the fox himself had not had any real qualms in doing, but Naruto was a different case altogether.

Even after a few months of healing, the boy remained changed from the aftermath. His first change had been, when the denial of the whole thing had become his only way to stay sane in the face of madness. Then slowly came the craving for human contact that had taken its place just as the blonde had started opening up to the world again. Unfortunately, Kurama could never have predicted their meeting with _them_.

Naruto met with the worst of the worst human scum to walk the planet. Unlike the many flawed guardians, who had drawn blood from the blonde for their own gain, these people had made Naruto give it all, blood and soul. For their gang, Akatsuki. They had started out as just a group of unpleasant outcasts in the neighbourhood, but with Naruto by their side, they had become fearless and strong. From terrorising local citizens to eventually robbing small stores and smuggling drugs, and finally, going for the gold, by stealing requested items from rich families, to sell on the black market.

Another boy, Deidara was what kept Naruto going, despite knowing how wrong it all was. Guilt was sparse and sympathy was buried away, as Naruto let the others use him, in return for their acceptance and their dependence on him. Along the way he had a gained the misplaced idea that their need for him, was genuine care. Kurama couldn't lie, there had been a sinful thrill to their little brotherhood.

Deidara and Naruto had been a thrill seeking pair and often did missions together, wherever one went, the other would follow as if they were tied together by an invisible thread, but it all came to an abrupt halt, when Deidara went and got blown into a million pieces. It was by no means an accident. Deidara knew Naruto conversed with a 'Kurama' and had come to the conclusion that the boy was a Schizo. Naruto who had grown weary of hearing Kurama always complain about the change in his behaviour, had nearly let himself be convinced by Deidara to almost give up his bond with Kurama. It all happened a few days before Deidara's 'accident', so was it so evil to think that the boy's end had been a blessing in disguise?

Kurama couldn't forgive that boy, and he had never liked him one bit, especially after realising the other's growing desire for Naruto, had evolved into something more sick and vicious. Kurama could see it all though, even when Naruto was sleeping, did he watch the older boy with caution as he studied Naruto with smothering lust, the sleeping boy had no comprehension of. It was only a matter of time, and Kurama wasn't one for patience and compassion - when Naruto's virginity and baby face was in danger.

Luckily, Deidara had a fanatic obsession with making things explode, so Kurama had seen it as a fitting end, to assist the other in going on his way to the other side with a little bit of his flaming help. Once Deidara was gone, Naruto didn't cry or mourn, but his resolution had faltered, and he became sloppy and careless - almost bored - to the point where one morning, he woke up on the street, battered and bruised almost beyond recognition, but... Someone had picked him up and taken him home.

That was the first time they met the white haired pervert. Jiraiya. A caring man who was too in love with the world. He was a famous author who loved to travel in his search for inspiration and ideas for his books. Naruto who had been a long-time fan of _Tale of a Gutsy Ninja_ had stuck around Jiraiya even after getting back on his feet, and slowly but surely started to detach himself from Akatsuki's claws. Kurama had eyed their chance, when the white-haired author had started to take notice of the boy's hidden bruises. It was obvious for anyone to see, how he seemed to care for Naruto like a son. Unlike with Deidara, Kurama had pushed for Naruto to go see the author frequently.

Jiraiya had been a smarter human than Kurama had ever dared to hope for - with any human - and had secretly done background research on Naruto. Naruto's illicit circumstances should have definitely pushed the man away, but Jiraiya was Jiraiya, and he was different. Naruto knew it too, deep down. So when the author had confronted them, and confessed his suspicions, he also informed Naruto of his intentions of travelling the world, and that he wished to invite him along as his adoptive son. Disappearing from one day to the other, had been their way out of Akatsuki, and it should have stayed that way. How were they supposed to know, that after so many years with the Author they would still be looking for Naruto.

"Still, the poor guy thinks he is your manager." Kurama tried to guilt the other, who had by now sunk trustingly into his arms.

"I never agreed to that!" The blonde snapped, showing his obstinate side. "I do like him though, he is kind."

"So you let the man continue to misunderstand, because you like him?"

"I guess, I shouldn't do that, huh." Naruto murmured sleepily, from the comforting heat still surrounding him tenderly.

"No you shouldn't."

"He won't understand though. None of them do."

_Jiraiya understood you_, Kurama thought darkly to himself.

"True, but no one can make you do stuff you don't allow them to do."

"Kura."

"What?"

"I love you so much."

"Brat." Kurama whispered against the boy's neck. "Don't think your words can butter me, you hold no such power."

"Kura."

"What..."

"Am I not your, kit anymore?"

"No."

Naruto smiled sweetly, eyes half-closed. Kurama knew better though, he had hurt Naruto, but for some reason he did not feel bad. The fox wanted Naruto to hurt, to hurt so much that he couldn't just smile anymore, he wanted Naruto to become more emotional. What had happened to the child who claimed his dream was to become human?

The blonde snuggled further into the redhead's chest before dozing off again without a care in the world. Kurama prayed that things would stay like this, because Kurama had already gone through enough trouble for Naruto, and the child should never know what those included. Naruto's floppy body sagged heavily against Kurama, who rose a sculpted eyebrow, before scooping the now much bigger Naruto into his arms. He was no longer a some small snot-nosed runt, but a young adult, even if he did not always act like it. That was a fact he found hard to accept seeing the teen now, lying there like a sleeping angel, the epitome of innocence - but it was now nothing but a facade.

Naruto lost his innocence years ago. When he became a hormone driven teen, so similar to the human boys, that no one could tell what he really was. If only Naruto could learn to mourn like one. Mourn for his teacher and the closest he had come to a father figure.

For now, they had peace, thanks to Jiraiya, but would Naruto have been better off if Kurama had killed Itachi Uchiha? Sometimes, the fox demon couldn't help but wonder.

* * *

Naruto had been woken up to the devastating sound of Iruka's ancient - ten year old - vacuum cleaner that had reminded him somewhat of a chainsaw on a rampage, that same morning at six. What he didn't know though, was that the vacuuming had already been going on for about twenty minutes before it had finally forced him to wake up. However the rude awakening had resolved in a groggy looking Naruto, with half-wet blonde hair, from an early shower he had no recollection of. To top it off he was now sitting in Iruka's car half asleep and drooling on the window he leaned his head on. This was the severe consequence of waking the blonde too early.

Kurama sighed next to him. It wasn't like the brunette could have known that Naruto was as useless as a sack of potatoes without his full nine hours of sleep.

"Naruto, are you sleeping back there?" The human called, from the front seat. Kurama scowled, this human was a poor replacement for Jiraiya. Jiraiya would have joined Naruto and together they would have slept in till late in the afternoon, like two peas in a pod.

"I know you are probably tired from last night, but the President has asked to see you so I didn't have much of a choice, are you listening?"

Bolting awake, yet again the blonde looked around himself still dazed before quickly nodding and covering his eyes a second later to continue his snooze. In the end, a good twenty minutes later, Iruka had to swing the blonde's arm over his should and almost drag him through the back entrance of Leafe. Still hanging off of Iruka's shoulder sloppily, Naruto was starting to gain consciousness and become aware of his surroundings.

"Morning Umino-sempai!" Someone called and Iruka greeted the man with his only free arm. "I see you have quite a handful there, is it your nephew?"

"Ahh, Hatori-san. No, this is one of the president's relatives, whom I'm looking after for the time being." Iruka said meekly, eyeing the still lifeless, blonde worriedly. "Um, would you happen to know if our president is available?"

"The president's? Oh I see, I see. You should head up to the twenty eight floor, I believe you can catch her there, her meeting with the Hatake is almost over." The other said. "Everyone is a bit stressed today it seems, there will be held an interview here later today, and some producers are coming to-"

Iruka stopped the other with a flick of his hand. "I'm sorry, Hatori-san, but I must go now, he is getting heavy for me now."

"Oh, no worries, talk to you later, Umino-san." The other left.

As they trudged towards the elevator Naruto got a bit lighter, so Iruka looked to see if the other had wakened up more, but it wasn't the case, rather it seemed like as an invisible force was aiding him with the blonde bundle of joy, who had started to make weird noises.

"Naruto?"

The elevator doors slid open, and they entered. The blonde leant against a side in the elevator as his stomach made weird noises.

"Iruka..Im not...feeling so well...what did you feed me?" Naruto managed to croak out between the convulsing cramps, his stomach went through. Never had he felt such discomfort.

"All you had was porridge." Iruka assured the other. "It is good for your stomach and keeps you full for hours!"

"..." Naruto looked up bleakly. "Where is the bathroom...I need one n-now..."

The elevator doors sprang open and Naruto looked around frantically, but Iruka grabbed his arm holding him back. "Relax, Naruto. What is wrong with you?"

The blonde gulped painfully as he wrenched his arm free of the other and stormed in the direction of a blue toilet sign.

"Naruto!"

Ignoring the frantic yelling of his name, he reached the bathroom door and started hammering it violently the moment he saw the red dot on the door, implying that the toilet was currently in use.

No response came, but the teasing sound of flushing and running water, came from in there. The blonde was literally hugging this chest and covering his mouth for his dear life, and in there was some random arsehole taking eons to wash his hands? Damn this bastard teme, damn Iruka and his disgusting porridge and obsessive cleaning habits and damn Tsunade and her shitty Talent Agency. Naruto wanted no part in this madness.

Angered beyond help ,Naruto punched the door again. "PLEASE! P-please let me use the damn t-toilet you bastard!"

He gulped again, but the door did not budge. And again. He could now taste the vicious bile in the back of his mouth, so he backed away a bit ready to charge in. No way in hell would be puke on this marble floor!

Click.

The door swung open. Forcing his bile to stay put for just a moment longer he ran to the door but was blocked by the tall body of a dark-haired man, looking at him bizarrely.

"Are you ill?" The other asked calmly, his suave voice laced with poorly hidden disgust, but showing no sign of wanting to move away from the door. Why the hell didn't this bastard just _move_, he was done wasn't he?!

"P-please.." Naruto murmured helplessly, unable to stand up straight all he could see was the other's suit-clad body. The impending bile rose again, in the pit of his stomach and his throat stung.

"I didn't quite catch that. Did you say...bastard? Hn?'" Naruto could almost hear the smirk in the other's icy voice. That was it, Naruto was PISSED, SICK and SLEEPY he would curse this arrogant asshole, to hell and back!

"GET OUT OF THE FUCKING WAY, YOU BASTARD TEM-Uuuurgh" Naruto gagged without warning and the rush of pent-up, warm, smelly, puke came out like a fountain.

Pale hands trembled as porridge-coloured puke mixed with bile splattered all over his body. The blonde had gripped onto the trembling stranger for support, but was quickly shaken off as the other pushed the blonde off of him, and Naruto grabbed onto the door handle and quickly smacked himself inside the toilet and locked the door before throwing himself over the still warm toilet seat.

Outside the toilet, the pale skinned, dark-haired man stood frozen in disbelief, vaguely trembling in disgust, arms held out from his body as if he feared opening his jacket would get this pungent fluid all over his pale skin. Half his chest was covered in puke, and..and...his designer's dress pants, and shoes too.

A brunette came running around the corner at that exact moment. "NARUTO!"

The man suddenly shifted as his obsidian eyes darted up to look at the brown-haired worker who had been yelling something that sounded familiar. Puke and clothes long forgotten, the raven muttered the nostalgic name to himself.

_Naruto?!_

* * *

Damn I just made it to 30k words, yay! Thank you all for reviewing.

I have now "vaguely" brushed over the past (time skip) events, but details are saved for later. The little "memory fragments" will be random memories from the past I add. They are not necessary to read but is meant for those who like to read up on all the extra stuff.

Until next time, enjoy your Sunday!


	6. Sasuke Uchiha

**Orenji****  
**_Written by_**F**_e_I**l**_a**n**_

**Preview Summary**:ツ When an Uchiha speaks, you listen. When an Uchiha offers their hand in friendship, you take it. When an Uchiha wants something, they will have it. So why does his foolish blonde dobe of a neighbour refuse him time and time again? The only logical answer - The boy must be crazy. SasuNaru, Slightly Possessive Sasuke,

**Main Story Summary**: On the outside he was perfection, best face, best physique, best model. Even that darned brother of his was no match for Uchiha Sasuke anymore, so why had Naruto still not returned to his side? It wasn't as if the blonde dobe had no way of finding him. Sasuke had made sure to cover most of the Billboards with his posters for Leafe Entertainment. How blockheaded can a dobe be? SasuNaru, hints of ItachiNaru.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Naruto Universe, or any part thereof.  
**Warning**: No beta, heavy longwinded metaphors because the author is one confusing mess. Sasuke displays signs of being a control freak, egoist, narcissist, as well as having obsessive- and a possessive tendencies.

Here's a little view turner of the last sleepover at Sasuke's before Naruto's sudden disappearance. (Ch. 3) A big thanks to the ones that reviewed, I really appreciate it. This chapter is for you guys so I made it extra long.

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That evening, Sasuke lay awake on his back, struggling to not lose any sleep, but found it harder than he would have expected. He was going to wait until he was absolutely sure Naruto had fallen asleep before he dared to turn on his other side where Naruto lay on the floor. Sasuke was now unsure of his decision in letting the boy sleep in his room, perhaps Naruto should have slept on the couch after all. Sasuke could not have foreseen that the blonde's soft breathing would tickle so delectably in his ears, making his hairs rise even beneath his now humid comforter, where his palms felt almost sweaty. Sasuke never did sweat a lot and it was strange how one person could cause so many odd new symptoms.

Eventually Sasuke turned away on his bad side, away from the dobe, and pushed further downwards on the bed to hide under the comforter, he could not make himself face Naruto. Even in this darkness he was sure he would be able to trace and outline the peaceful shape of the blonde boy.

Sasuke bit his lip in frustration when his left hipbone was starting to hurt.

Then he sat back up again suddenly and his eyes instantly fixing on Naruto who didn't move. Had he fallen asleep so soon? And before Sasuke had even gotten around to saying a proper goodnight?

Sasuke had been the one to turn away and hide in the first place, but it still bothered him that the dobe could sleep with such ease and Sasuke was left to...to lay awake feeling awkward and stuff, when it was Naruto who was the cause of it. Stupid dobe always making things awkward.

"Naruto?" Sasuke finally dared himself to whisper. The soft breathing slowed for a split-second but then continued as if he hadn't heard Sasuke. Was the dobe truly asleep?

He dropped back down again with a slump and a rustle of his comforter and then some soft locks of raven hair was all you could see of Sasuke. He felt his cheeks burning uncomfortable and he just could not sleep still. He could have sworn the room was like a sauna now, so unbearably hot, that he was tempted to get out of bed and open a window. So he did, only after twisting and turning at least five more minutes in vain as the endless frustration was starting to exhaust him, yet still not enough to just fall-the-hell-asleep.

Being cautious to not hit the other, when stepping over Naruto's futon, Sasuke managed to reach window that reflected some vague light through the black blinds, from the lamp posts out on the street. The pains of having your bedroom on ground floor level. He looked down on Naruto quickly to make sure the other had not woken up from his moving about, but only met with a smooth face of utter peace. The thick but not extremely long eyelashes didn't flutter at all.

Quickly returning to his task at hand, after catching himself looking at Naruto for a bit too long, he pushed the window almost wide open to let the night breeze in. This would definitely help.

When he got back in bed, he waited patiently a few more minutes for the entire room to cool down, all the while forcing himself to stare at the chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Then not long after he heard the almost soundless rustle of covers on the floor. Immediately he forced his eyes tightly shut, as Naruto slid off the futon and stood up, unmoving for a second while checking to see if he had woken Sasuke before he left the room and closed the door softly, making sure it avoid the clicking sound.

Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief and swiftly turned on his good side, breathing heavily as if he had been holding his breath for a whole minute. Whilst the dobe went to the bathroom, Sasuke grabbed the chance to finally give in to sleep. His breathing slowed, and slowed and slowed, till eventually his mind became blank and consciousness left him.

The room was now very cold, cooler than the actual summer breeze from outside.  
_  
- Memory Fragment _

* * *

**Orenji**  
Ch. 6  
- Sasuke Uchiha

_Naruto?!  
_

* * *

_._

Naruto felt his throat tickle and prickle uncomfortably, like a myriad of ants were crawling around in there, now and then biting and nipping at the at the sensitive walls of his mouth cavity. It was not nice. Just like how puking on others wasn't nice. Naruto did not do 'nice' though, not with bastards anyways. No doubt, the bastard had probably already ruined a few people's day himself.

In all honesty there was a lot of things, both small and big, that could make the boy's blood boil over, keeping his temper down had never been one of his strong points, which Jiraiya had been a witness to on several occasions, albeit if there was one thing in this whole world Naruto could most certainly not stand for, it was arrogance. People who thought themselves superior to him, just because he was an orphan. People who had used him, because he was reliable and loyal. People who had pretended to be his friend to get close to him with hidden motives and last but not least there was those who assumed that being homeschooled till high school had somehow made him a creature of lesser intelligence than them.

The blonde would be the first to admit that he had been a bit lazy with his studies, he blamed the constant switching of schools for that as well, but if he truly gave his all to become good at something or just to simply do well on the important tests only, he would always succeed, leaving the bastards who had been smack talking him, gawking when Naruto hauled in an almost perfect score with what seemed like minimal effort to most of his classmates. Of course his effort had not been nowhere near minimal. Believing that would just be downright retarded. It had been the result of a swotting marathon just before the big day, most commonly twenty-four hours in advance and in rare cases forty-eight. No-sleep and solid food included, he could run on ramen and energy drinks alone.

Finally dragged from his reverie, by the stiffened, growling fox at his side, Naruto glanced at himself in the mirror again with an air of irritation hanging thick around him. A small wrinkle settled between his brows, as he gurgled a couple more mouthful's of water before spitting it out. The vile taste of vomit was gone but it had left that horrid burning sensation on the inside of his mouth and throat. Sighing, he bent down to rinse his mouth yet again. He closed his frowning eyes and blocking out the garbled noise outside. "Shit." He cursed. "That bastard is gonna talk."

"You don't say."

Kurama's red eyes would have glinted with poorly hidden amusement at the whole situation, was it not because of one small detail. The human that Naruto had puked on. The fox unconsciously assumed an expression of absentmindedness while he dug through the memories, frantically trying to remember where he had smelled that man before. He was familiar, and Kurama's sensitive nose could still pick up on that aside from the other smell that now clung to the man. He was someone they had met before. Was it Itachi Uchiha? No, it couldn't be, it just couldn't, yet some part of him said. Yes it could be. Because. The scent was so similar. It was a wonder Naruto had not noticed it himself.

Naruto was too busy splashing his face repeatedly as if trying to wash away the sickness and discolour from his visage. He didn't have time to waste on contemplating and beating himself up over his own personal hundred-percent-failure-proof superpower to always get caught up in random mess. It was the norm after all. Or had become the norm after a certain amount of years being a troublemaker, lately however it was not as if he had really tried to instigate any trouble, actually he thought he had done a good job at behaving, alas, it just followed him like a life-long loyal companion.

The fox then let go of its tension, when it realised something. Naruto hadn't recognised the man yet, no doubt there. Kurama had sworn to himself that he would never let them meet again, but now that seemed like a far-fetched thing to wish for. Had Itachi recognised Naruto? From the way the man had acted, Kurama thought not, but how could he ignore that nagging anxiety when they had been so close to being discovered. Kurama sat back and let Naruto take his sweet time to clean his mouth as he yet again cursed at the mirror for not magically being in possession of a toothbrush. The longer they were hidden away in here, the better in fact.

Outside the human had apparently attracted quite a few people as the minutes went by with the still shocking commotion.

Naruto didn't dare to come out now, as expected after just puking his guts out on the stranger, the man would surely try to call Naruto out on it, and if it wasn't embarrassing enough already with just the man throwing a fit, now they had an audience as well ready to salute their performance. "Stay here." So, Naruto did the next best thing, he _stayed_ in the damn toilet and waited for the atomic war outside to ride out its initial wave of damage, what? Reality had finally caught up to his train of thoughts and he noticed that Kurama had spoken. "Stop reading my mind..."

The fox rolled its eyes.

His anger long forgotten he quickly scanned the room he was in, and he could already tell that it was no typical toilet. At least this room was clean and nearly had no smell to it, maybe because of the double air fresheners and the fact that it was a self-cleaning toilet. There was even a chair for your bag and a vending machine with cold soft drinks. In a toilet? What the hell kind of place was this. Sitting down on the chair next to the door he started to look around, almost expecting to find a some sort of basket full of magazines, however that, was the one things the toilet was actually missing, no no, of course there would be no magazine with half naked ladies posing for perfume brands and make up lines, because it would be outrageous if any man spent his toilet visit wanking off to a magazine model. Naruto laughed. He could actually imagine people doing just that.

So instead Naruto leaned over and tried to listen in on the bewildered people outside.

"-help! We've had an accident here!" A voice he could identify as Iruka, called out.

"Keep your voice down!" A woman hissed, probably one of that man's stylists, Naruto thought grudgingly. Had Naruto perhaps gotten himself dragged into more into more mess than he could handle, by getting involved with that dark-haired bastard. The guy had literally just been standing there and blocking the bathroom door, just for petty pride over a small swear that Naruto had innocently thrown in when he had gotten desperate. Not like a first world problem that most people hadn't already committed when they were caught in a frenzy. It wasn't Naruto's fault that the guy had felt the need to act superior and stand there like an arrogant peacock, showing off its magnificent tail, instead of moving. Fuck that bastard, Naruto was not going to go out to apologise. As he yawned he heard the other sneer. "Get him a change of clothing and be QUICK."

"-Seal off the hallway and don't let anyone come this way-"

"Uchiha-sama, who did this to you?"

Naruto cringed inwardly. That stranger must have been seething with barely contained anger and embarrassment if the voices outside was anything to go by, it would seem that the man had not put the blame on him yet, which was very surprising indeed. Even that damn Iruka had just left. His now empty stomach made painful noises from being now empty once again. If only time would just go faster. The cushioned seat was getting very very warm and relaxing suddenly, was that a seat warmer?

"Please sir, the room just over here is available."

Hastened footsteps resounded in the hallway, indicating that the stylist had returned. "Hurry and change into this, we will find you some proper clothes before the interview later" The female stylist said with an apologetic voice. After some silence and fiddling with the puke coated blazer, the man had discarded the main source of the foul smell.

"That way." The husky voice of the man finally said, as he pointed in the direction of the elevators. "The crazy stalker ran that way."

"We will look into it immediately. I promise you we will catch the one that did this to you!" The woman assured the man and stalked off to look for the intruder.

Inside the toilet sat the now slump figure in the chair, leaning his head on the wall as he had done for the past few minutes. "Nnh.." The blonde had fallen asleep, like a rock. Perhaps it had been a minute, or an hour, but when his head rolled back and hit the merciless stone tiled wall, he woke up with a jolt of pain. "Ouch!"

"You're an idiot." Kurama snickered. "You fell asleep again drooling like a-"

"Kura you jerk!" The blonde cried out, before he could stop himself. A moment he looked away with an expression of remorse crossed his blue eyes, he was more touchy today, and he felt bad for snapping so easily, but everything just seemed to go against him, everything was so annoying, even that little doorstopper he had been glaring at for a whole minute about now. Screw rationality he was bored out of his mind and being holed up here was no fun at all. "Did they leave?" Naruto then asked silently, not feeling the least bit refreshed from his second snooze today. In fact it might have made everything worse. Now with some extra headache. God, he should have stayed in and slept out like he had planned to. He didn't really blame Iruka for his crappy day, the man did not know better, but Tsunade knew how he felt without his much needed rest, how could she not know, she had been spending half a year with Naruto and Jiraiya in Norway. With a yawn and a stretch he got up, careful not to make any noise, although at this point he had already made enough noise to wake up an army.

"Yes." The fox's grin faded though into a mask of sternness. "We better hurry and get out of here."

Nodding, the blonde pressed his head against the door a last time to make sure it was clear, and then with a quick twist unlocked the door. Outside the floor was still wet where his accident had happened but there was no sign of any people lingering around. Finally feeling a sense of relief, Naruto started to look around to orientate himself a bit. He had no clue where he was. Naruto had stopped, when he eyed something helpful on the faraway wall down the other hall where he hadn't come from. It was blue map - a floor plan - with a white outlining of floor twenty-eight.

With a last look at the map he started tramping towards a big room, or area called 'auditorium', near the lounge. Of course it was the name of the other area next to it that had lured Naruto. It had read, 'cafe'. Further explanation would be pointless. It was time to get something _good_, back in the growling monster of a stomach. Iruka would probably find him soon if he stayed there.

As he walked along the hall, he read several weird words on the door tags, among them were 'Television Studio', 'Anechoic Chamber' and several doors named 'Dressing room' number one through sixteen, and there was probably more but by then Naruto had stopped caring because when he reached a corner he heard footsteps behind them. They kept the same tempo as Naruto's own but with a split-second faster speed.

The blonde panicked and picked up the pace, trying not to look back. Was it that man from earlier? Or perhaps his stylist who had come to interrogate him?

By now Naruto was almost running and to his fear the footsteps had turned into running as well.

"You are not getting away you intruder!" A female screeched.

There was no way he was going to let some stupid woman catch him, he was faster, by far. Naruto dove around the corners and made sharp turns in the seemingly endless corridors, this place was a maze. Near the end of the corridor, he came to a halt when he saw a small compact blackboard just outside an open studio. He pushed in between it and let the aggressive stylist run past him, panting yet speeding up further once she realised he was still out of sight.

Naruto watched her for a moment longer and she finally disappeared around the corner on the far end. He breathed a sigh of relief but it was a short one. The woman's shoes came to a painfully screeching halt of burned rubber against linoleum flooring and the sound was not a good one. The running woman was on her way back.

The next thing he knew, an arm had lunged out as if to punch him behind the blackboard, and Naruto had automatically closed his eyes waiting for the impact. It never came, but instead someone grabbed him ruthlessly by the arm. He was being pulled into the dark studio and where he a moment later felt his back being slammed against a hard surface, making him almost drop down from the pain of the brunt he took. Then the door was closed, and the lights turned on to reveal his saviour, or menace. Pinning him against the wall effortlessly, was a beautiful man no more than an inch taller than Naruto, with silky tresses of black, framing a pale face, complimenting the pair narrowed onyx eyes. He looked at him like he was ready to cut Naruto open right then and there. It was him, the man he had puked on!

"B-bastard, what do you think you are doing?" Naruto growled, sore back ignored as he tried to wrench his arms free, unfortunately the irresponsive man had him in a deadlock and no budging or fighting on his part would make up for the wasted energy in doing so at the moment. Since that didn't work, perhaps apologising would solve the problem, but he didn't think it would. Oh what the heck, he would try, for the sake of his sore wrists. "Look, I'm sorry about before. I was just feeling really sick and-"

The sudden sound of laughter interrupted him from continuing. The man was laughing at him, but it wasn't warm or sweet, it was sarcastic and cold.

"W-what?" Naruto murmured baffled at the other's reaction.

Then the other muttered something that sounded like. "Dimwit, through and through still." Then the man had stopped laughing to face him again, his grip tightening painfully around Naruto's wrists as an icy smirk spread across his flawless face.

Something in the other's eyes flickered dangerously as if he was trying to scrutinize each and every little detail of the blonde in front of him, from the way Naruto wore his hair medium length blonde hair, ruffled and un-styled, to the little frog keychain dangling from his pocket. "Hey!" Naruto didn't like how the man was looking at his body. It made him nervous. Finally the man's cold eyes focused on his, and they softened ever so slightly as did the stranger's hold on him, but only for a moment.

"Think you could sneak away, like that again? Hn, NARUTO!?" The other bellowed with a husky voice that demanded Naruto's full attention, when it sent shivers up his spine with its baritone allure. Onyx eyes bore into his, and an almost pained look settled on the others face, when the stiff flawless lips of his capturer turned into a slight frown, upon observing no reaction from Naruto. If anything this seemed to worsen the man's mood significantly.

However the blonde didn't react. He couldn't. Shock held him in place and Naruto's mind was in a turmoil, working fulltime to comprehend the situation, a long forgotten fear and dread welled up in him, because as far as he was aware of, this man should not know who he was. How the heck did this weird man know his name, had they met before? Or was he perhaps an old friend from his gang, that he had forgotten about, _shit_. It could only be them, no one knew him in Japan, _no one. _Was this man related to...Jiraiya's death?_  
_  
Before he thought it through Naruto felt his knee fly up on reflex to kneed the black-haired stranger in the stomach, sending him tumbling to the floor with a grunt of pain, at the sudden impaling strength of rage building inside the blonde. The man looked up at him almost in surprise, unable to accept that he had just been overwhelmed so easily.

"I don't know who the fuck you are, but I'm not part of your little gang anymore asshole! Tell the other's to stay far away from me or I will hunt you down and kill you bunch one by one! I promise you that!" The blonde growled, blue eyes, hastily reddening as he spoke.

The man had pushed himself off the floor as if the kick had hardly grazed his stomach, but Naruto knew it was pride, pride that demanded the other to show no weakness. It was pathetic. Naruto's eyes lost their red tint and the sky blue colour deepened in recognition at the scene in front of him. The fresh trail of blood trickling from the corner of the man's mouth, made his breath hitch in the back of his throat.

Time had stopped and he found it difficult to breathe, as the face of the man dented into his mind.

The man must have been gritting his teeth and accidentally bit his lip in the fall, but the dishevelled black hair, along with the almost red eyes, stirred something within, someone familiar that Naruto had not thought about in a long time. They even smelled the same, but this man was older, and of course he would be, after so many years. Then the world moved once again, when the onyx eyes, now tinted with their own clear red met Naruto's, the unreadable expression broke off, revealing another one of utter confusion.

Yes, no one was supposed to know about him, except.

"I-Itachi." Naruto stammered, as the beautiful man froze immediately at the sound of the name, eyes wide. Black hair, onyx eyes, delicate pale skin. Yes this was Itachi, Naruto was sure. "I-I am so sorry, I didn't mean to kick you before! I thought you were a thug..."

The man stood still in silent contemplation for a moment before he started shaking ever so silently. Naruto felt a stab of guilt when he thought the man was about to cry, but he didn't, no sniffs came, instead he broke into a low laughter, that grew louder by the second. He laughed bitterly, with darkened eyes, yet he looked almost like he was on the verge of despair, it had just been one second, it had been brief, so brief that Naruto wasn't sure it had even occurred or if it was all a part of his imagination. "Are you fucking kidding me?" The man sneered, all confusion and previous amusement nonexistent.

"W-what? I didn't mean to-"

"You stupid, idiotic, cowardly dobe." The other bit out angrily, through gritted teeth, and Naruto assumed a look of confusion. "You ran away, and now you don't even remember? Well isn't _that_ funny."

Then the man walked towards him threateningly, and something in Naruto kept him in place till the man stood so close to Naruto that he could feel the other's breath on the nape of his neck as the other leant in, ominously close to his ear. "I. Am. Not. Itachi." It had merely been a whisper, but the harsh undertone prevented any retort the blonde could have come up with. He shivered. _Even their voices were similar._

The man moved away gracefully, it had been so fast that Naruto only felt it after it happened, but he was sure he had felt the man's lip graze his ear, but it had been too faint to be done intentionally. That didn't stop the uncomfortable feeling of familiarity to spread though, as though his body recognised this man.

"So you remember my bastard brother, but you can't seem to recall who I am?" The other then asked coldly, face devoid of any emotion, only the small trembling in his voice spoke volumes about the true state of his mind. Naruto stayed silent as the man went to the door and locked it, before he pulled out his phone and pressed the speed dial, never taking his eyes off of Naruto. The blonde, too focused on the uncanny resemblance between the boy in his memories and this bastard, caught on too late. _'brother?_'

Naruto's mind reeled.

Naruto knew somewhere in the back of his mind that something wasn't right with this situation. None of it made sense at first. Itachi had a brother? Naruto's eyes squinted, why did he feel like he had forgotten something important? It couldn't have been _that_ important since he had forgotten him after all, perhaps this guy just held a grudge against him because of something to with Itachi. What it was though, Naruto couldn't piece together. He was almost certain now that Itachi had a brother, an annoying, attention-craving one but Naruto somehow found it hard to link these two people.

This handsome man, despite his horrible attitude and demeanour towards Naruto, resembled Itachi almost perfectly. The hair was shorter and spiked up, stylishly and unlike Itachi, his face was more pretty, his skin was doll-like, making him look somewhat younger than he probably was, but overall everything else swayed towards a more mature style, no stranger would treat this man like a kid, the way they did Naruto. And for that Naruto, felt a slight but gnawing jealousy.

"Hn, It's me. Yes. I've caught the intruder who puked on me. We're at Studio seventy-two. Right. Better hurry, he attacked me." The man spoke to the person on the phone.

Naruto's eyes widened with horror as he realised what the man had done, and seemingly out of anger just because Naruto hadn't remembered his name, that was so low! A moment ago he had seemed almost ready to forget about the incident or at least not caring so much, but now? What a two-faced bastard. "Teme! I already apologised! WHY?!" The blonde snapped.

"I can still smell it, dobe. Did you really think I was going to let you off?" Itachi's bastard brother, said offhandedly. " Especially after doing something disgusting like that to me?" An evil smirk spread. "Dream on."

"You said I attacked you!" Naruto stated accusingly.

"And so you did," The man said frostily. "Want me to show you the bruise?" And just as the man had said that he pulled up the hem of the long-sleeved black shirt he had changed into after the accident, revealing a perfectly toned, hard stomach, where a vague blue mark had appeared. Naruto grit his teeth. Though it had been a reflex on his part, even Naruto knew that he was by no means weak in physical strength, and if the man hadn't been as well-built as he was, his attack would have knocked the man out cold.

Still, it had been self-defence so wasn't the man going overboard? A heat spread to his face, and Naruto forced himself to look away.

"Keep your clothes on bastard!" Naruto blushed, still seeing the resemblance to Itachi, that was why it affected him so much when he looked at the man.

Itachi... did this man see Itachi often? Naruto couldn't help but wonder. Naruto had long ago accepted that he wouldn't be able to see Itachi anymore, but here fate was once again, playing with his feelings by dangling one of Itachi's relatives in front of Naruto to taunt him. Only this relative was a real bastard, the arrogant kind that made his blood boil with a mere smirk.

"If you can guess my name before they arrive, I will let you off. How about it?" The man said playfully, smirk in place as he fixed his clothes. "You better think fast."

"Who said I'd participate in this stupid game of yours! All you will ever be to me is a bastard!" Naruto barked. "I don't bother to remember bastards anyways! No wonder I forgot about you."

The playful smirk, disappeared leaving behind a scowl that then confusingly enough turned into indifference almost immediately after. "Pity really."

Blue eyes widened as multiple footsteps echoed in the endless hallway outside, the cavalry had arrived. The studio-door was slammed open and a bunch of security guards rushed in, closely followed by two women.

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"Tsunade-sama, I brought the sake you requested-"

The dark-haired assistant, Shizune was greeted with silence by the five in the room. One angry boss, two managers awaiting the inevitable judgement to be passed on the two teens in the room, one of which she knew worked for Leafe whilst the other appeared to be Japanese too, but with influential foreign blood that shone through. For one, the boy was taller than average, however his form was still slender and compact. Secondly, his golden blonde hair, tanned skin and blue eyes were all traits that would be dully ordinary on the other side of the planet, with the exception of the depth that made his eyes different from those typical greyish, dull blue eyes foreigners possessed, his were a dazzling azure. Shizune felt her heart drop a bit, if only the teen had been ten years older, he would have been her type.

The blonde teen cast a glance at her, before eyeing the sake bottles on the platter she carried, and like that he managed to break her image of the tough, quiet and beautiful stranger she had portrayed him as, with just a single sentence. "Still drinking your life away, old hag?"

Tsunade slammed her balled fist down on the heavy wooden desk, and Naruto could have sworn he heard the sound of the little wooden fibres snapping under the pressure. Honey-coloured eyes bored into his. "DON'T THINK YOU CAN TALK YOUR WAY OUT OF THIS, DAMN BRAT!" The big lady screeched, banging the table a few more times. Shizune stood frozen in shock and wasn't sure if putting the sake on the table would be safe anymore so she put it on another table further away from her rampaging boss, before scurrying out of the room quickly.

"I didn't do anything wrong." Naruto sounded like he was the victim. "Coming here in the first place wasn't even my choice."

"You have done plenty!" Tsunade roared. "Firstly, you turned a whole floor upside down, looking for you, and secondly, you harm one of our CM models, do you have any idea what you have done!"

"Yes I know very well what I did. I puked on a bastard who wouldn't let a sick person through, and I kicked the asshole when he pounced me for absolutely no reason. I got hurt too!" Naruto growled refusing to look at the boy next to him to see his reaction.

"You don't seem to understand the situation here. So let me make it clear for you." Tsunade bit out, patience a thing of the past. "Sasuke here, will model for a denim brand on monday, and you damaged the body that will showcase a product. It does not matter what happens to you, your body has no influence here."

Itachi's little brother, Sasuke leant back in his seat next to Naruto, undoubtedly smirking to himself.

"Fine, it wasn't the best course of action but what the hell can I do about it? Why not cut the pretences and just spit it out." Naruto mumbled wanting nothing more than to be able to get out of here, and far away from this evil model and his unnerving smirk. "Will an apology suffice? I already apologised but this hard-ass bastard ignored it."

"No, we are losing money, so you need to take responsibility."

"Fine I will! Tell me what I must do and let's get it over with!" Naruto groaned, feeling the painful aftermaths of an empty stomach.

Naruto waited grudgingly, fearing the worst. He prayed to all the gods out there for the hag to not let him be exposed to the media in any way. Nothing could have prepared him for what she demanded though, and what the hell she was plotting, he had no idea, but it was always done with a motive in mind.

Tsunade smiled, weighing the gaze of the other before turning to the raven next to Naruto. "Sasuke."

Sasuke regarded the president with a nod, his face an enigma to the rest.

"Are you comfortable in the new apartment, provided to you by the company?" She smiled sweetly. Naruto swallowed, nervously at seeing Sasuke's eyes watching him cooly, as he responded.

"It's fine." Sasuke said puzzled by the random inquiry about his personal life.

"I see, good." Tsunade then turned to Naruto with a discerning honey eye. "I intended for you to live with Iruka, but seeing as you need a lesson in responsibility-"

"_No_!"

Everyone looked over at Naruto who had interrupted their president. The blonde had gotten up from his seat, hands clenched into fists at his sides. "Just no! You can't just move me around as you please!"

The CEO of Leafe smiled, intriguingly. "Actually, I can, if you don't want to be kicked out and sent into an orphanage till you turn eighteen, with a huge debt on your ass. Till then, you are my brat, and I decide where you work _and_ live." Tsunade thundered, as she marched over to the other table and grabbed a bottle of sake, which she instantly started pouring into her empty cup. "I hope you are good at taking care of others, because you will be Sasuke's housekeeper for the next month. Be grateful brat, I would have rather used your body for the spotlight but knowing you would just screw it up on purpose anyways, this is the best solution. We just had the last housekeeper fired."

"You don't mean to.." Naruto stopped himself from saying it as he disbelievingly glanced over at Sasuke as if looking for some kind of help. Unfortunately the raven was sending him a dirty look now, telling Naruto to fix the situation before it became an irreversible situation for both of them. Unbeknownst to the blonde though, he had read the raven's signals completely wrong. Sasuke was not so snubbed by the idea.  
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"You don't mean to.." Naruto hesitated, eyes widened in disbelief.

Something about how determinedly Naruto refused working for the entertainment industry, bothered Sasuke. People would envy anyone getting a chance to be known, but Naruto, or what was left of Naruto was dismissive about the whole idea. Unbeknownst to the others, Sasuke was greatly affected by everything that played out in front of him. A weight had dropped from his shoulders only to be replaced with a new stone to carry. Sasuke was not_ insane_. His father had been wrong, the doctors had been wrong, the psychiatrists had been wrong, everything they had forced upon him was wrong. It was lies.

In one day, everything Sasuke had been told for eight years, had been disproved. He trembled as the weight of his discovery had still to settle within him. All those psychiatrists his father had dragged him to see, had told him that the blonde had been a fiction of his imagination, an imaginary friend, a sign of schizophrenia, a mental disorder. For eight years. Sasuke just never got around to accept it, but he quickly learned to pretend he did. Sasuke had not been mentally unstable...

Naruto was here, next to him again, although the joy Sasuke had expected to be feeling was not there. Naruto was different, he was loud before but not a ticking bomb. Neither had he been this rude, and poised. This Naruto was so very big, and the sincerity of the child Sasuke used to know, seemed so transparent now. Who the hell was this bumptious idiot? Naruto was not _this_, this person with Naruto's hair, with Naruto's striking azure eyes, with Naruto's whiskers and his sun-kissed body, that smelled like nature. Naruto did not forget people, ever.

Sasuke frowned. He could have liked the timid Naruto, even in this form, but not this stranger that he had become. Was Naruto really that different now? He had witnessed it himself.

"It's settled, you will not be allowed to return to Iruka will the month is up, if you behave. I hope you grow up a bit." Tsunade emptied the remaining sake in the bottle before slamming it down on the table where it cracked. "Or else I will have your face on the next list of model candidates."

Naruto gulped and swallowed thickly, before nodding.

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I think I will stop here, kekekeke. Its 00.04 now so it's technically friday, TO ME! Ha!

So um, leave a review and tell me what you think.

Next chapter will hopefully be up sooner than this one. I started working at a hospital, in the Department of Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy, so I've been kind of busy.

**Important question to you all.**

**Would you prefer the next chapter to be in Sasuke's view or Naruto's view?** (Mainly)

On another note, I have started writing a log on my profile where I briefly mentions updates I'm working on and other progress if anyone is following and wondering when I will update.

I wish you all a good weekend and hope you enjoyed the chapter.

- Feilan


	7. Ao to Orenji

**Orenji****  
**_Written by _**F**_e_I**l**_a_**_n_**

**Preview Summary**:ツ When an Uchiha speaks, you listen. When an Uchiha offers their hand in friendship, you take it. When an Uchiha wants something, they will have it. So why does his foolish blonde dobe of a neighbour refuse him time and time again? The only logical answer - The boy must be crazy. SasuNaru, minor ItaNaru, Slightly Possessive Sasuke,

**Main Story Summary**: On the outside he was perfection, best face, best physique, best model. Even that darned brother of his was no match for Uchiha Sasuke anymore, so why had Naruto still not returned to his side? It wasn't as if the blonde dobe had no way of finding him. Sasuke had made sure to cover most of the Billboards with his posters for Leafe Entertainment. How blockheaded can a dobe be? SasuNaru, hints of ItachiNaru.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Naruto Universe, or any part thereof.  
**Warning**: No beta, heavy longwinded metaphors because the author is one confusing mess. Sasuke displays signs of being a control freak, egoist, narcissist, as well as having obsessive- and a possessive tendencies.

**A/N**: Because of you wonderful reviewers I found the energy to write this next chapter in 1 day. You guys are amazing ha ha. This chapter is dedicated to:  
**nobaru rei, Darklife21, Killua17, Yana5, Rei, shia naru, Narutopokefan, Ezkiel and my anonymous guests.**

THE VOTES

- for this chapters POV.

Naruto - 1  
**Sasuke - 5**

**So Sasuke it is! Enjoy this extra chapter guys! Just for you.**

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"Shhh," The blonde put a finger in front of his mouth as a sign for Sasuke to stay silent and not freak out. But Sasuke didn't care, he could freak out if he wanted to. After all, it was all Naruto's fault for leaving Sasuke without saying anything.

"Why did you leave?! What happened to you!?" Sasuke yelled, at the blonde, who was smiling shyly at Sasuke, from his spot on the window sill. "And why are you dressed like that?" The raven couldn't help but ask upon seeing the blonde wearing a set of tight fitting black clothes, so very unusual unlike his bright orange knickers and white top. That was Naruto's signature colour after all. The blonde cocked his head in confusion and looked incredibly sad.

"It is hard for me right now." The blonde said, not sure where to begin.

"Hard?" Sasuke asked, concerned. He was happy though, indescribably happy. Naruto was here with him again, and he had come to visit Sasuke to make sure he was alright. Sasuke crawled out of his bed and walked over to his friend, who fidgeted a bit before jumping down from the window sill without making a sound. Had Naruto always moved so soundlessly? Throwing whatever questions he had aside he went to pull the warm blonde into a tight hug, he didn't care about the fact that hugging was not a normal thing for them, it was normal now, Sasuke decided.

Naruto blushed but let Sasuke hug him tightly for a whole minute, before gently pulling them apart so he could look the raven in the eye.

"Some people are after me." Naruto said after a moment of hesitation, he was chewing his bottom lip nervously. "I can't allow you to be in danger because of me."

"Who is after you?" Sasuke growled, getting lost in the depth of Naruto's beautiful eyes. Sasuke had missed those eyes as well.

"I d-don't quite know, but they want to use me." Naruto said sorrowfully. "I miss it here." The raven blinked perplexed. Sasuke didn't understand. People were chasing Naruto? Was it someone who knew about the murdered bank robber, Kabuto Yakushi?

"Let me help you!" Sasuke demanded. No way would he let Naruto be alone to fend for himself. Sasuke could easily take down a few grown men who weren't martial artists.

"Sasuke-" Naruto started.

"Why do you always refuse my help?" Sasuke then said suspiciously. It was true, Naruto was so secretive, so frustratingly secretive always. Weren't friends supposed to be able to share their secrets and protect one another?

"I-I'm not...really." Naruto tried to assure the other, but with to avail. "It is for your sake Sasuke. I have to go again."

"You are...can't you just let me, protect you?" Sasuke felt a pain spread in his throat and chest, like his body was feeling a physical reaction that his mind had yet to figure out. Then he felt it, Naruto warm hand on his cheek, gently stroking him, like it was Sasuke who needed to be comforted, and not Naruto who was hunted by strangers and fending for himself.

Naruto smiled sadly and shook his head, before retracting the hand that rested on Sasuke's pale cheek. With a last glance into the soft azure blue eyes, Sasuke saw Naruto vanish before him.

Sasuke woke up with wet eyes and a sore throat. He choked on the fresh tears. It had been yet another dream.

- _Memory Fragment_

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_._

**Orenji**  
Ch. 7  
- Ao to Orenji

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"You haven't visited us in months and have been moping about the entire time in that apartment of yours, or so I'm led to believe since I never hear from you anymore. Oh, and I so enjoy making your sour mood swings even m-." Itachi teased with a smile, but was jabbed in the stomach by one angry little brother. The raven haired boy's scowl didn't change. "Why are you so touchy, Sasuke."

Sasuke crossed his arms and muttered some insult under his breath while he looked at the other end of the room, where his father were sat inside the other room, a newly built sun porch - with entrance to the garden - in deep conversation with tonight's dinner guests. He had only been here a few hours and yet his father and brother had already riled Sasuke up with pestering questions about his sour mood.

"Want to talk about it?" Itachi offered the moody teen.

"Not likely," Sasuke jeered.

"Too bad. You're giving father fits with this attitude of yours-"

"Look, would you _kindly_ just leave me the fuck alone." Sasuke glared daggers at Itachi now, feeling the anger rise to dangerous levels inside of him. It would be better if Itachi just caught a hint and stopped bothering Sasuke. Itachi ignored him and continued.

"-and it's really tiring listening to father go on about what's wrong with you every other day. He wants you to move back home."

"Do tell, what gave you the absurd idea that I honestly care?" Sasuke said icily, trying to fight the impulse before he would really snap. " I didn't come here to be cross-examined by either of you. That is sure going to convince me to move back..."

"Fine, I see you are dealing with a different problem." His brother said thoughtfully as he allowed himself to take up the seat next to Sasuke. He took a sip of his glass of water.

Huffing resentfully, Sasuke wondered how Itachi would react if he told him about his newly confirmed sanity and the return of his imaginary friend, perhaps if he timed it right Sasuke could even make Itachi choke on his water.

"Is it a girl?" Itachi asked.

Sasuke snorted at how inept his brother sounded, asking such a question. "No," Sasuke murmured, cooling his boil down. _My problem is you._

"Ah. .. could it be. . . a boy then?" Itachi said with hesitation. Sasuke honestly didn't know whether to laugh, yell or sigh in frustration. A nosy Itachi was a pain.

"It's nothing that concerns you." Sasuke scoffed. And with that the younger boy got up and decided to go for a walk in the garden. Alone.

Itachi stood back, looking at the retreating back of his now almost grown baby brother. Sasuke had begun to mature both physically and mentally. Itachi's red eyes were smouldering and narrowed with suspicion, because he knew, the closer the ball hit to home, the more Sasuke would resist. He had just never thought his straight little brother would be having _boy_ troubles. Or more specifically, boy troubles that actually created such sweet reactions from Sasuke. Sasuke had without a doubt, no shortage in suitors of either sex. So that individual must have really dug his claws deep into his estranged little brother.

Itachi was definitely intrigued.

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As far as Sasuke was concerned.

There were numerous reasons why his family was considered an irksome irremovable stain in his life. Sasuke had never quite understood the whole obsession with being well-liked amongst their neighbours as a child and he certainly had not gained any new miraculous eye-opening clarity as an adult. Dared Sasuke think that it meant something was wrong with his thinking? Hn, how illogical wouldn't that be.

Nothing so unfounded could convince him that it would somehow be anything less than a symptom of obsessive behaviour on their part. It was but an obsession that drove the wealthier families of Konohagakure to secretly compete with their direct neighbours, in an effort to make their neighbours' gardens and exterior house-parts pale in comparison to their own. This obsession had thus led to the constant changing of scenery, when parts of buildings were either renovated or just simply torn down with no salvage in mind, salvage meant that the family was too poor to follow the trend of their little road of perfection and were scoffed at.

Once upon a time, Sasuke had believed that despite being socially involved with these pompous neighbours since he had a reputation to upkeep, his father had still not stooped as low as to follow the fashion-passion bullcrap that ruled the rest of the street. Then Sasuke had decided to visit home this weekend, when his family had kept pressuring him to spend some quality with them. Fair enough, they were related.

Nevertheless he still couldn't forgive his father for several reasons, but the droplet that had made the glass spill, was when he witnessed the horror in the garden. That and, Naruto's old house. It had been completely annihilated in favour of a new and better building project, according to his father. This was his childhood that had been hammered down, and the house had not even looked that bad, to Sasuke it had been the only normal element on their street. Sasuke was upset, he really was. Because somewhere deep within, he had convinced himself to believe that his father was better than all this, nonsense, ass-kissing, neighbourhood-business. That he had at least been. Better than them.

But the perfect green lawn with the newly created sensory path running all the way around the ostentatious mansion - now also covered in new glossy roof tiles after having clearly been repainted thoroughly recently -, told Sasuke, a very different story. A sad story.

Sasuke had just about had enough of this whole pretentious act. It was disgusting.

Fugaku Uchiha had nearly lost his composure in front of the neighbours, that he had also invited over - was there even a point to Sasuke coming here, the man seemed busy enough with flaunting his riches - and panicked when Sasuke had retrieved his black shoulder bag from his old bedroom and darted off towards the front entrance without a 'goodbye', phone already at his ear calling the company's limo to come pick him up, somewhere down the road. That was another thing, unlike his brother who had received a Porsche for his birthday.

Sasuke who was the awful kid in the Uchiha household, who talked back and disobeyed their father and went and got famous, had to work for his things. Although now, even if his father had offered such a lavish gift, Sasuke would not have accepted it. He could soon buy himself one had he cared enough about cars to do so.

The whole hassle with driving had put him off quickly, the limo was safer, with its tinted black glass windows and spacious backseat where he did not have to sit in constant worry of being photographed. The limo pulled up close to the sidewalk and Sasuke got in, ignoring the curious stares from the nosy neighbours. He was going back, back to his own home, back to a different kind of irksome stain who temporarily resided in his home.

About an hour later said irksome stain, was nowhere in sight when Sasuke got in. A small part of Sasuke was annoyed by this so he dared to peek inside the second bedroom, where all he found was the blonde's possessions already carelessly strewn across the floor as if a hurricane had gone through his room, shedding annoyingly colourful clothes just about everywhere, even on the damn window sill.

Surprisingly enough the kitchen was untouched, as was the living room, mini studio, atelier. One prodding question had made its way to the light board in Sasuke's mind already. Had the dobe decided to disappear from his life so soon?

Sasuke released the air from his lungs he didn't know he had been holding. Good riddance.

Sasuke didn't really care, and if he had once cared, he didn't now, not anymore, definitely not. Caring was exhausting, and he had spent years trying to rid himself of that tiresome feeling, but it was all good now, seeing the blonde hadn't caused him a heart attack as he had dreamt it would when he was younger. Sasuke used to have strange dreams where Naruto would magically appear out of nowhere to visit him, claiming to be a wizard, and apologizing to Sasuke for having made everyone forget about him, except Sasuke, but Sasuke could remember Naruto because he was special.

That is what Sasuke had thought back then.

A few days later he would then dream up a whole new scenario, where Naruto had turned out to be a secret prince who had to live in hiding because his evil uncle was out to get his life, so Naruto couldn't rise to take over the throne of his secret country, in a land far far away, because that was why Naruto looked so different from the other kids, with his pure blue eyes and blonde hair. Naruto wasn't fooling no one, and especially not Sasuke.

Naruto had to be from a whole other country, it was the only logical explanation. It had seemed so real, so real that when he woke up, Sasuke had felt like crying. Crying for Naruto who couldn't lead a normal life and had to flee to about every country on the planet to stay safe and hidden. Sasuke couldn't act selfish and expose Naruto's secret life, and he knew, Naruto did had secrets, lots of them, that he would someday share with Sasuke. He just had to be patient and wait. And he had waited, for many years.

The memory today made Sasuke cringe in embarrassment. He had been so damn pathetic and trusting as a kid. Only to Naruto.

After a year or two he had emptied himself of whatever emotional behaviour that had ragged his mind for so long, with the help of shrinks. Sasuke had tried to make new friends, he really had, and some could say he succeeded but no matter how many so called friends he had hung out with, he had still felt empty and detached about the whole affair, in the end Sasuke could feel his friend's frustration with his lack of interest and soon he was back to avoiding people all-together. Caring was nothing but a burden. A burden he had lost the will to carry when Naruto disappeared.

In fact Sasuke cared so little now, that the stupid blonde could _almost_ go and knock on Itachi's door and cling to his older brother for all he cared, well, because he didn't care, and 'almost' was because Sasuke just didn't want to be dealing with the pathetic aftermath of a heartbroken Naruto when Itachi rejected him and he came running back to Sasuke's place bawling his big blue eyes out in front of Sasuke.

In fact, he had better not come back here. Sasuke did not want to see his face. It pissed him off and invoked weird feelings that he wanted nothing more than to just ignore. Something about Naruto and Itachi made him uncomfortable, he wasn't as naive anymore, Naruto had liked his brother a lot, and perhaps Itachi wouldn't actually turn Naruto away from his doorstep, Sasuke felt something in his gut turn. Naruto could be gay if he wanted, it was none of Sasuke's concern anymore, but Sasuke couldn't stand the way, he had spoken of Itachi. Not as a kid, and not till this very day.

Sasuke was still fuming, from this morning. Naruto had appeared before him after almost a decade, and had the audacity to call Sasuke by his brother's name. Why did the idiot have to do this to him? Itachi this, Itachi that. Always Itachi. No, enough was enough, let the dobe run away and see if Sasuke cared. His head was spinning when another insight dawned on him. A new spin on the situation entered his mind. Calling Sasuke Itachi, was no less hurtful and infuriating, but Naruto was attracted to Itachi, so did that not mean... that Naruto had thought of Sasuke as attractive as well? That had to be it, else the blonde wouldn't have mixed them up.

His throat had dried up uncomfortably all of a sudden and Sasuke found himself a glass from the cupboard and a can of multi-juice to drench his throat. Sasuke hoped he hadn't caught a cold, he couldn't afford to be sick on his only free weekend. He sipped the juice. Then his face scrunched up at the sour taste of orange, it was overpowering and he almost couldn't make out the mango, passion fruit or pineapple in it. It was prickling in his mouth and gorge for a bit longer, but after the initial wave of acidity, the aftertaste wasn't all bad. The next sip tasted much better and the third was pure bliss. Soon the glass was empty.

Tired and moody - as anyone would be after a nonsensical day, that had also possibly been the most eventful one he had experienced in many years, believe it or not - the raven threw himself on the couch and grabbed the abandoned book that had still been lying on the arm lean of the sofa, where he had left it yesterday. Untouched. It didn't take long before he felt the tightening sensation in his bladder and although he did not want to get up so soon, it didn't help that he had reread the same freaking sentence over twenty times due to lack of focus. Destination bathroom it was.

Putting away his book, after neatly marking the page he had come to, Sasuke helped himself up and did a small stretch before going to the bathroom. Thank god he didn't have to share it with Naruto, there was only one bathroom, so it was a shared bathroom in this apartment. However. The door was stuck. He started tugging at the handle a bit aggressively till he noticed the weak light seeping from the cracks. Still oblivious to his senses the strange pounding in his chest, in his ribcage, suddenly sped up as realisation kicked in.

Naruto was here.

When it had started doing so he did not know, it had felt almost instant. All he could think of was that he wasn't alone in an empty apartment. Strangling the part of him, that took pleasure in the sense of relief that washed over him, Sasuke straightened himself. It didn't really matter, but at least now he wouldn't have to explain to the CEO why her adoptive son was gone.

Apparently Naruto had decided to pre-occupy the bathroom for a good two hours prior to Sasuke's arrival home despite having spend half a day in another bathroom already, and Sasuke was starting to lose his patience with the blonde. That dobe had better not be fucking asleep in there. Light still streamed from the cracks, but there was no shadows of movement. A perfectly sculpted black eyebrow twitched and rose in annoyance.

"Dobe?" He tried calling through the door, but when no answer came back he cleared his throat and raised his voice. "Wake up! You've had the bathroom long enough!"

Sasuke almost jumped back from the door when he heard a low animalistic groan. After that silence continued. Moments came and went in awkward silence and Sasuke had almost forgot the discomfort of a full bladder. Keeping himself calm, Sasuke carefully knocked on the door, trying to catch a sign of activity. He had to resort to tightening his muscles to keep his bladder in check, and that didn't sit well with him, his stomach was sore enough already. The blonde had really kicked him hard, even if Sasuke would rather not give him that sense of accomplishment.

"DOBE!" Sasuke yelled, and this time he knocked with more strength, but to no avail. Naruto did not respond. Sasuke growled in irritation. Should he call someone? Kakashi? But no, he could not be bothered with the consequences of calling Hatake Kakashi about his small housekeeper problem. Obviously he couldn't ignore his bladder either. Making up his mind, he decided that he would rather break down the door than piss in a sink, and with that thought in mind, Sasuke stormed off.

If the blonde wanted to play like that, Sasuke would show him up. Sasuke reminded himself to grill the blonde for this later.

Out of patience Sasuke pushed in door to the storage where he kept his tools, he just had never expected he would need them for this. He eyed the shiny tool hanging on the wall and a smirk spread on his pale face. With this, he would get that blonde out of _his_ bathroom even if he had to break the door in. He grabbed his tool and marched back to the bathroom.

With a long black crowbar in hand, Sasuke stabbed the sharp end into the door crack and started tearing and wrenching at the door. Through sounds of crunching wood and metal, the lock broke off and a cloud of moist damp invaded the hallway, leaving Sasuke standing confused in the blur of heat. Perhaps calling Kakashi had been the better choice after all, but it was too late now. Something was wrong and Sasuke suddenly felt an abnormal anxiety and dread spread from his very core. Inside the bathroom there was no one.

The bathtub was empty, and with no sign of Naruto anywhere this could only mean one thing. Sasuke's eyes fell on the second door where oozing clouds of heat still seeped through the crack.

The sauna and hot tub.

Stupid, stupid, stupid dobe. What if Sasuke had really stayed at his family's for the weekend? He didn't want to think about it.

Sasuke quickly slammed the door open and tread into the sauna fully clothed, but he shouldn't have done that. Already feeling dizzy from the onslaught of damp and heat hitting him in the face, he nearly stepped on the soft calf of the half naked blonde who laid sprawled across the planked wooden floor, with his bare ass in the air. The towel had unwrapped itself. Sasuke grabbed a new towel and closed his eyes as he tried to cover the other's behind, but he had only done it half right and was forced to take another peek at the top part of Naruto's natal cleft before he could fix the towel to cover all of Naruto's flaming butt, that had taken on an unhealthy shade of red.

Just like Sasuke's face at this point.

He blamed the heat, because it wasn't the first time he had seen a man's ass, and during P.E. he had never caught himself looking at a guy's ass more than he had to, besides his male classmates sure didn't have anything worth showing off either way, but something about Naruto's too soft looking ass made him question if the blonde shaved most of his body hair off or if he was just naturally that smooth. Either way, it was just regular curiosity, he didn't really care for the answer, and neither did he care particularly for Naruto, but even Sasuke would feel guilty about leaving the blonde passed out on the floor.

The Uchiha grumbled and cursed as he pulled, yanked and pushed all he could to get the blonde into a sitting position, without exposing the lower body. Fortunately, Naruto was much more of a lightweight than he appeared to be once positioned correctly and Sasuke managed to somehow haul the body halfway over his shoulder with ease. Naruto made unintelligible noises and twitched a bit as Sasuke dragged him out of the bathroom, but he didn't seem to want to wake up, instead he started to snore loudly against Sasuke's shoulder blade.

In the messy bedroom, Sasuke unloaded the lax body onto the bed in a not so gentle manner, since he was now sure - from the way the blonde snored so loudly without a care in the world - Naruto was going to be alright after some rest and cooling down. There was no extra service from Sasuke's side, really. Sasuke was feeling much too stressed out for anymore distractions, or blonde damsels in distress for one day. Who knew, he might have to babysit the dobe tomorrow again if he kept up his foolish behaviour. Shrugging to himself, he closed the door and went straight for the bathroom for a much needed piss. He would have to order a new door as well.

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"Kakashi?" A quarter to six that evening, Sasuke found the silver haired manager at his doorstep. He hadn't actually expected his manager to come rushing here, when he had phoned them earlier about Naruto's little accident.

"Mind if I come in?" Asked, then went on to elaborate for his evening visit. "The president said he would be fine, but asked me to check up on him anyways."

"'kay." Sasuke mumbled, groggily. He had been woken up from his nap by the doorbell and wasn't in the best of moods, he still felt awkward about the day, everything seemed to surreal. Naruto had been sleeping for hours but Sasuke didn't dare to tread back into the room where he had so unceremoniously dumped the blonde like a sack of potatoes.

The silver haired man came in and wiped his soles before replacing his wet shoes with a pair of slippers. Sasuke looked out the window and sure enough, it was raining heavily. The after-effects of his nap had slowly gone from his body,

"Is this his room?" Kakashi had asked pointing towards the direction of the atelier. Naruto inhabited the room on the far right of the hallway.

Sasuke nodded, leaving Kakashi to go check up on the blonde. Then Sasuke decided that it was time to make himself some dinner, since he couldn't expect an unconscious Naruto to be very useful in that department. Sasuke had taken a few steps before a thought came to him. Should he make something for the blonde as well? A grimace formed. It wasn't his job to take care of Naruto, Sasuke had done more than enough for that dobe, and now Kakashi was here anyways. Perhaps take-away would be good. Yes. Sasuke hadn't had take-away in so long, and he was not in the mood for the diet broccoli-salad and vitamin juices in his fridge.

Digging through his messy drawer in the kitchen he pulled out a few leaflets from take-away places. Pizza? No. Burgers? No. Sushi? Hmm. Ramen..

His attention was broken as his phone began ringing.

"Hello?"

"Evening little brother," Sasuke cocked an eyebrow.

"Itachi..." Sasuke tried to keep his intonation as polite as possible but knew he failed miserably. Itachi never called, so it was strange. "Why are you calling?"

"I'm coming tomorrow." Was the statement, he heard next. A statement as in, _not a suggestion_. Sasuke snorted angrily.

"No, I'm busy, don't come." Who the hell did Itachi think he was, to suddenly act like a big brother, and boss him around when it was convenient for him? Sasuke heaved a sigh. He couldn't allow Itachi snooping around his home, if he found Naruto...if he found Naruto...

"I am coming." Itachi said again in the same monotone voice, no room for discussion.

"Are you deaf?" Sasuke now all but sneered. "Stay away!"

"Sasuke, I want to make-"

"Well, too bad, because I don't want you here. You are not welcome." Sasuke deadpanned, rudely interrupting his brother. Why was Itachi suddenly so eager to see him, Sasuke couldn't fathom it.

"I have a day off tomorrow, so you can make some time for your brother, since you don't like staying at the house." Itachi finally used guilt against him.

Sasuke had figured it out though, and nothing Itachi said would make Sasuke reveal his new roommate. Sasuke should have lied earlier instead of getting worked up by Itachi's questions, and he realised his mistake too late. Itachi only behaved like this whenever Sasuke, had found something interesting. It was no longer about not wanting Itachi to meet Naruto it was pride. He had found Naruto first. Itachi had forgotten about Naruto like his father had. No way in hell would he let Itachi meddle again.

"Prepare to have a door slammed in your face." Sasuke said and hung up. He had to do something, he had to get Naruto out of here by tomorrow, just for the day at least, but where could they go, and would Naruto willingly follow him? Just yesterday his life had been quite simple, when he was just a model. Now Sasuke was a babysitter, a brother, AND a model.

Fuck Itachi. Fuck his prying, fuck his concerned-brother-act, fuck his pushy personality.

"You could have least given him some underwear on, Sasuke." Kakashi had come up from behind Sasuke with a laugh on his face.

Sasuke spun around to see Kakashi walking towards him, grinning underneath that mouth mask of his.

"Underwe-" The model's eyes darkened, and he his tongue caught. He cursed at himself.

"Yeah, you left him in bed only with a towel on. Don't worry, I dressed him now, and he just seems worn-out, oh, and you should order some food, he might wake up soon ." Kakashi said casually. "Iruka is waiting for me, I'll leave him to you then."

Sasuke glowered, and mumbled a bye as Kakashi pulled his raincoat and shoes back on, and stopped again before leaving. "By the way. Good job with destroying the door, Sasuke. I'm sure Naruto will appreciate your concern."

"..." Sasuke felt like he had been slapped in the face. Concern? He didn't even want to know what was going on up there in his managers head, but Kakashi had obviously misunderstood a thing or two, neither of which sat well with Sasuke.

"Bye!" Kakashi called and then the sound of the door closing was heard. A few minutes later he picked up his phone and called, a restaurant. Ichiraku Ramen.

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A disorientated Naruto cracked an eye open when he heard a door slam. At first he couldn't quite wrap his mind around the unfamiliar surroundings but as time went by he came around. He was sure he had been in the sauna, but he must have been too sleepy and gone to bed instead. His body felt sore as if he had been sleeping on a stone, but the bed was soft enough, so how he had gotten so sore was a mystery to him.

One thing that wasn't a mystery was that familiar scent he hadn't smelled in so long. So very long. His stomach growled as the scent became stronger in his nostrils. His door swung open, and in came that man. Oh yeah, Sasuke was his name. He was carrying a bowl of miso-ramen. Naruto quickly warmed up to the idea of living here. Ramen!

"Wow, thanks, er, Sasuke." Naruto grinned, testing the name on his tongue. It wasn't hard to get used to. Sasuke had not been waking Naruto up or disturbed him, and here the guy came bringing him ramen in bed. In Naruto's book, he already liked the guy a whole lot better.

"No problem dobe." Sasuke said, not meeting his eyes, which confused Naruto, who was used to people always looking straight into his eyes when speaking. The other boy seemed awkward and uncomfortable.

"Don't call me dobe! I have a name. It's NA-RU-TO!" The blonde smiled cheerfully, too happy to let insults bring him down. Already drooling at the big bowl that was held towards him, he swiftly sat up and got comfortable on the bed edge. Sitting in nothing but his boxers, the skin he was born in, Naruto grabbed the bowl from Sasuke's fingers -not noticing the other retracting his hands fast when their hands brushed - and started shovelling the food into his mouth with multiple sounds of pleasure. The best ramen in the world deserved nothing less. "Mmhhh, so good. Man, you're the best!"

"Excuse me?"

Naruto cocked his head and swallowed the last mouthful. "Yea, I called you the best, I mean no one can appreciate the simple things in life, good old miso-ramen is my absolute favourite food~!" The blonde grinned from ear to ear. "It is almost as if you know me, haha, here take a seat! Don't be shy!"

Sasuke's eyebrow flew up in disbelief. Naruto was telling him to sit on his bed, like they hadn't just fought earlier, like he hadn't been cursing at Sasuke, calling him a bastard, asshole and a teme. Sasuke had almost been sure, that the blonde disliked him strongly, so what was up the sudden change of mood and acting like they were close, like...like. Friends.

Sasuke remained silent not sure what to do, it felt too awkward being in the room, and it felt too awkward just leaving the room, with Naruto sitting there and watching him so intently and gesturing for him to take a seat in the other end of the bed. "I need to go-"

Naruto had put the empty bowl on the nearby table and grabbed Sasuke's arm when he turned to leave. Sasuke looked Naruto in the eyes now, the blue eyes looked almost desperate. "Hey! You can stay here. I want to talk to you. You know, get to know you and stuff..."

"It is getting late." Sasuke said coldly, wanting nothing more than to get out of Naruto's room.

"Oh don't be such a spoilsport! What am I supposed to do, huh? There's no way I can sleep now..." Naruto pouted in a way that made Sasuke's stomach cramp uncomfortably. What was he supposed to do in a situation like this. In the end his confusion led him to do one thing. Sasuke glared, but even that didn't scare the blonde off. On the other hand it seemed to make the blonde talk more. "Don't scrunch your face up like that, that face can scare people away you know."

Sasuke was about to wrench his arm away when Naruto continued. "Besides...I've been stuck here alone all day, bored to death, I don't have a key or anything...I tried find your play station but then I came to the conclusion that there was none. Who doesn't have a basic gaming consol such as a PS come on! Don't leave me here to rot pleaseeee."

"Hn." Sasuke snorted, but sat down from lack of better judgement. Because he soon regretted it, when Naruto moved away from the bed edge and sat himself too close for Sasuke's comfort. The blonde was like a walking heater. Sasuke felt dizzy from Naruto's warmth, and it only served to make him even more tired and giddy, he should have just left the dobe and gone to bed while he had the chance, but something in Naruto's desperate beg for company had made Sasuke give in.

"So, erh what do you usually do at home, I only saw that book of yours. No games, no instruments, no movies, are you like, never home or something?" Naruto licked his lips to clean off the last taste of soup, hungrily. Then commented to himself, as an afterthought. "Damn, I could eat at least three more of those."

"I'm a model, not a musician, and you are wrong, there is a PS 3 locked up in the cupboard under the TV-table." Sasuke sighed, not really feeling the mood for talking. Sasuke closed his eyes for a moment. This wasn't completely uncomfortable, actually. If only Naruto would stop talking and just stay silent, then everything would be perfect. "..I'm home every day... if I were to go out It would be... troublesome for me."

"Oh, I didn't check there." Naruto laughed sheepishly, looking at Sasuke who had now closed his eyes. "I see, I guess being famous and all, ain't that great then."

_Shut up Naruto_, Sasuke thought hazily, all rationality had flown out the window as he sagged into the welcoming heat. _Just stop talking and let me slee..._

Naruto looked to his side in surprise, when Sasuke's head dropped on his upper arm. "Yo, Sasuke? Are you falling asleep on me! Wake up meanie! I'm not going to carry you to bed, you know... so wake up!" He faintly heard the blonde calling, and even the gentle shaking that followed, just felt like being cradled in heat, nothing could return Sasuke to awareness. "Come on Sasuke! You can't sleep here!"

To Sasuke who was naturally always cold, Naruto was incredible warm. Sasuke even slept with socks in the winter due to lack of heat in his own body. Naruto. So warm. But, Naruto was incredibly warm, so warm that he could endure constant winter, sleeping naked, if he so wanted. The sun would never stop burning.

"I mean it, Sasuke." Naruto whined, almost childishly as he moved away, only to have Sasuke's whole upper body drop in Naruto's lap instead. Sasuke was now sleeping like a rock. One could not tell that he had forgotten to take both is sleeping pills or daily dosage of antidepressants, because Sasuke was smiling almost sweetly. And Sasuke never smiled in his sleep.

Blue eyes narrowed, and the smile disappeared from his face. His mouth was now a thin line, and his breathing heavier. "You're the naive one Sasuke." The blonde mumbled, the childish tone in his voice gone. Naruto watched the now sleeping boy, for a moment longer before pushing the sleeping boy further in on the bed and towards the wall, so Sasuke could lie properly. He lifted the other's head gently and put a pillow under before turning off the light and crawling in behind the other. Unlike Sasuke, Naruto was much too lazy to carry the other back to his room.

Behind them, Kurama sat at the corner, in his human form. With empty eyes and a distorted, almost devilish smile bordering insanity. "He is not Itachi, Naruto-"  
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**TBC**

Dun Dun Dun, Itachi is getting nosy! Sasuke is a pessimistic, negative teen on medication. Kurama is not all so sweet. Naruto is not so innocent. Please review

**!SPOILER! Why Naruto does not remember Sasuke!**

Before Konoha, Naruto has had several guardians, so to protect Naruto from people tracking him down, Kurama makes people forget that they ever existed. So when Kurama made Naruto leave Konoha he made the Uchihas forget about Naruto, at the same time he also tried to make Naruto forget because he had bonded with the Uchiha family, so to avoid making his host sad or feeling a sense of loss, he did what he did thinking it was for the best.

However, giving up his bead to heal Itachi, meant transferring a great amount of life force to another person, basically a piece of Naruto, that is why he can remember Itachi but not Sasuke or others related to that incident. He is vaguely aware of Itachi's family but as described in chapter 6. Naruto can't really recognize Sasuke by name or personality traits but just as 'Itachi's little brother who was somewhere in the background'.

What Naruto senses from Itachi is familiarity, he feels his own bead in the other still, which of course will be confusing for Naruto. Kurama never saw Sasuke as a threat, only Itachi because Naruto couldn't forget only him. So now Kurama is under the impression that Naruto is warming up to Sasuke merely because him and Itachi resemble each other a lot, appearance wise.

Itachi is not aware of his bond with Naruto. He won't be until he meets Naruto again. Then he will remember Naruto automatically.

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**Darklife21:** You think my story leans towards Itachi/Naru? ;) Well then I can hear I've been successful. It is SasuNaru though, but there will be ItaNaru elements.

**Nobaru Rei**: Poor Naruto? :0 Why, I thought they were both a bit mean to each other.

**Killua17**: Thanks for your continuous support :p

**Yana5**: :D :D :D

**Rei**: Well since you didn't want the other chapter to end, I thought I'd write this one a bit quicker ^^

**shia naru**: The spoiler sort of answers your questions, heh. Thanks for always reviewing every chapter xD It really always makes me so so happy.

**Narutopokefan**: Sorry that it ended up being Sasuke's view :(( But it was meant as a vote. There will be more in Naruto's POV in the chapters to come so I hope you enjoy this chappie anyways D:

**Guest**: I'm glad you are enjoying my story And yes, Sasuke is very confused xD

**Ezkiel**: Sadly they don't really fight a lot, but hey, you got ur Itachi moments :P


	8. Past Life: Of men and foxes

**Orenji****  
**_Written by _**F**_e_I**l**_a**n**_

**Preview Summary**:ツ When an Uchiha speaks, you listen. When an Uchiha offers their hand in friendship, you take it. When an Uchiha wants something, they will have it. So why does his foolish blonde dobe of a neighbour refuse him time and time again? The only logical answer - The boy must be crazy. SasuNaru, minor ItaNaru, Slightly Possessive Sasuke,

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Naruto Universe, or any part thereof.

**Warning**: No beta, heavy longwinded metaphors because the author is one confusing mess. Sasuke displays signs of being a control freak, egoist, narcissist, as well as having obsessive- and a possessive tendencies. **This chapter is at least T-rated.** **Blood, and handjobs. Slightly Sadistic!Sasuke(Aoi).**

**A/N**: For those who find it hard to grasp what the actual plot is about, read the extended summary and overall warnings, but before that, **Fasten your Seat-belts**, lean back and get comfortable, and remember to always keep yourself hydrated with a drink nearby! This chapter moves on from the moment they fell asleep in last chapter. It is a dream sequence of Naruto's past encounter with a very different Sasuke. Since he does not remember the current Sasuke, I thought it fitting that he would be reminded of one Sasuke he did not forget. *Past life Time*

Thank you all for reviewing :3 I love you guys too. Enjoy the chapter.

**Overall Warnings**: AU, Controlling!Sasuke, Demon!Naruto, Timeskip, Past lives and thousand year old fox demons. Memory lapses of Naruto's past life in the Ninja-verse. Don't read if you have a short attention span, the story is long and contains underlying plots, so turn around**if you can't handle something different** from a typical highschool story/Naruto-Sasuke gets famous story/Nonsense romance with lemons each chapter story, because this isn't one of those and that isn't the main focus. There will be romance, lots of it, but I don't plan to speed it up.

**Extended Summary:**

_Prologue_

Sasuke Uchiha is an eight year old boy, and antisocial loner, living a life of boredom with riches, a better-knowing brother and a father who is never home. One day new neighbours move in next to them and Sasuke decides to make his blonde neighbour his very first friend. However Naruto Uzumaki has something to say about that because he does not want any friends. Angered by his refusal he starts spying on the blonde and he quickly learns that his shy-looking, timid blonde dobe of a neighbour has many secrets to keep. Why does Naruto not go to school? Why is he always so pale? And is his snake-like bankrobber-guardian as evil as he looks or does it have something to do with Naruto's four-legged imaginary friend?

_After the prologue -_

The raven-haired Uchiha is in for more than he can handle, when he despite all odds manages to make friends with his dobe, but it all ends when Naruto mysteriously disappears, and only Sasuke remembers who Naruto is. Eight years later, the latest hot model Sasuke finds himself still thinking of the boy, until one day Naruto reappears. Too bad for Sasuke though, because Naruto has forgotten who he is.

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**Orenji**  
Ch. 8  
- Of men and foxes

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It reeked of decaying flesh, in the open field around him.

The sickly sweet scent mixed with the musty odour of the rotting dead bodies was one foul stench that he would never be able to forget for the rest of his life. His head spun, and if he could feel his bowels they too would have been twisting and turning in disgust from the sight, and smell. The decay. It came from all around, so even if he had had the strength to turn his head in the other direction it wouldn't matter. He was laying in the heart of it all.

"Am I even alive?" He had asked himself, but he wasn't sure if his voice came out through the mouth that he could no longer feel. Was he still breathing? Perhaps his body had already died, and he wasn't really smelling the rotting corpse lying under him, like a mass of mushy deteriorating flesh and broken bones. Perhaps he had just seen this sight a good dozens of times before in the past, and maybe that was why he imagined the smell, because he _remembered_ the smell from knowing death too well, he had after all, been the cause of many lives ending too early.

Dark clouds loomed dangerously above, and beneath them, a thousand wide empty eyes had opened.

Faceless men, some in bloodstained armour, others in nothing but their worker's clothing, too poor to afford a simple pair of waraji sandals, or maybe thinking more about their families who needed to eat back at home, were looking right at him from the crooked and unnatural positioning of their bodies. He saw it all. He felt it all. He remembered it all. The way they had twitched and reached out for him as they drew their last breath days ago.

They had been looking at him, and only_ him_ when they had died to his ferocious thrusts, and dropped to the ground in spasms at his feet as they bled and bled and bled, and just wouldn't stop bleeding. The young warrior knew he must have been covered in squirts of their blood, and to any bypasser, whether alive or not, he would look just like the dead surrounding him. They had begged him for a fast death. He should have granted them that at least, because now. They were haunting _him_, just as he had haunted them. Chasing them down one by one like an animal, killing in the mad frenzy of a wild beast. A demon. He had become a demon unable to stop the blood-lust, unable to stop the hate that he had succumbed to unable to stop the grief and betrayal that had controlled him, leading him on the path of vengeance.

One drop. Two drops. Seven drops. He quietly observed the rain falling from the dark sky, effectively rinsing the contaminated air and making the flies flee to seek cover.

Where was his kin? Where was his men?

They had died. To those underhanded traitors who had pretended to be their friends, greeting them in the marketplace daily, asking for help when outside threats could no longer be ignored. They had been members in noble clans of their own village who feared them, who envied them for unfounded reasons and obsession with power. Nothing could have justified that sneak attack. Cowardly clans within the village... hidden in the forest, hidden in the leaf. It had appeared to be an internal struggle among the clans, but who had tried to protect his family? None, they were all his enemies. Who had defended his father, the leader of _their _village. The fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze. Only the Namikaze had.

And they had given their lives.

Namikaze...the Namikaze had been wiped clean from the surface in one night.

They had killed every last one of his blood kin, he was alone. Left behind and forgotten in the midst of an unfolding massacre, and then...then he had felt the voice in his head, speaking to him kindly, and sweetly like his own brother had done not long ago, it was seducing his torn mind and stimulating his senses with pleasure and the warmth of company by pushing out the loneliness and despair that had come with knowing that he was the only one left. The only one.

Now they were two.

'_You are mine and I am yours_.' The angry demon that possessed him had said, and he had agreed. He couldn't bear to live on alone, he couldn't. But now, the demon was silent in his mind and it all seemed surrealistic to the young warrior. The desperation and anxiety was over him once again. 'Don't leave me here alone' he tried to call upon the demon, but no voice came. He really was dead now wasn't he? Had it all been a crazy dream, had he lost his mind? Was there no demon, or was the demon really just himself trying to make up an excuse to justify his rampage.

It was now raining heavily, and the drops fell on his body like gentle whips of liquid. His hair was rapidly soaking and the tear in his swollen pink lips was pulsing from the raindrops hitting it. The vivid colour that only the living could see had returned to his dark and grey world, and he felt the temperature once again. He was too weak to move still but...he could sense his body again. It was intact.

"-search over there, check if anyone is alive-"

His eyes blinked and his slowed heart gained strength to pump additional blood into his veins, spreading the heat inside him.

"-I saw someone blinking! Is it one of our men?"

"-Where is he? Are you sure you are not just imagining stuff, most of them have been dead for days..."

He wanted to scream, to wiggle a finger, to just get up and announce his presence and let the people know he was here. Alive. He had never wanted so bad to just get up and stand on his own two legs. He wanted to...to grip that man's leg. The stranger was standing so close to him. '_Do something, do something or he will leave.'_

The feet in front of him were mere inches from his fingers, if only he had the strength, if only he had the will to live...

"D-don't l-lea-eve m-me..." It was his voice rasping, it was faint but he had uttered a sound, and then, his hand brushed the long sinewy limp and the man froze from the touch.

The rain had stopped, somewhere along his daze and scattered thoughts in the delirium he was in, and the sky above looked so beautiful. More beautiful than anything in this world. Unspeakable happiness filled him as the clouds pulled away to reveal more blue. More colour. More life. More-

"A-ao..." He whispered endearingly. The colour of blue, Ao.

A hand grabbed him and turned him around on his back. The man was looking at him with a face he couldn't read. Was it concern? Disgust? Hatred? Or was it...

"Ao." The man's eyes were darker than black, they were smouldering and intense. And...they were clear and glossy from the unshed tears he kept for his fallen comrades. They were so glossy that he could see the reflection of the blue sky in his black eyes.

The beautiful stranger dressed like a noble in silk of blue and white, smirked and bent down over him, letting his soft black hair fall down and touch his face that must have been covered in cakes of dried blood like the rest of the men. The hair touched his cheeks teasingly as the man spoke. "Hn. So you _are_ alive. Since you know my name you must be one of ours." The handsome man said softly, without a smile on his lips. "My name is Uchiha Aoi, and I am your Lord."

_Ao...Aoi...  
_  
"My lord...this is...this is... Minato's...the Namikaze heir...this horrible happening..."

_'Sleep kit._' A familiar voice cooed in his ear and then he was cradled in warmth. _'They are under your spell already, beautiful one.'_

.

* * *

_._

"Keep him here, locked up." The Uchiha had told the healer. "No one is to set a foot here except you and me. Your life depends on your silence and caution, if my brother learns of this it will be your head on the stake."

Days had gone by in hallucinations from being drugged so severely every day. His mind was nothing but a haze unable to grasp reality from dream, yet there was one thing he was sure of despite his continuous sleeping, and that was that it felt like weeks since Aoi last came to his dark room in the inner court. He did not know why but he longed to see the man who had pulled him out of hell, even if this was just another hell with different surroundings.

Aoi didn't come this day either. But the day after, the footsteps outside had been different than the ones of the old healer. They were quicker, more soundless and a whole lot lighter. They were the footsteps of a female.

Then the door flew open and the fresh air of summer came in. She was staring at him oddly for a moment as her chest expanded to its full capacity to make up for the air her body craved for. She had been running and looked quite upset, with those pearly tears streaming from her big dark brown eyes. Her eyes travelled over his covered body and she sniffed in disgust, but then her eyes fixed on him and she was no longer able to look away even if she had wanted to. The girl came to his side and sat down, determined, she could tell the man was not of the Uchiha household.

"W-who are you?"

"...Naruto." He croaked, and the girl's eyes softened as she reached out, brushing the tips of her stretched out fingers over his cheek to feel him.

"I'm Himeko. My family sold me to them...I'm... " She said slowly, but started shaking when footsteps were heard outside.

"Close the d-doors, Hime-chan, f-fast." He croaked, still unable to use his voice normally, although he could move around already from just a few days rest. He couldn't let this poor girl who had obviously been running away from something, get found out and be punished. She looked at him apprehensively but did as he asked.

Naruto's blanket was at least three times his size, so it seemed reasonable to let the girl hide behind him, since the healer never actually touched his body, or looked underneath his covers, the old man seemed almost afraid to touch him in fact.

"I c-can't...that is too...inapproiate.."

"I won't hurt you, I p-promise." He said, and he meant it. The young girl reminded him of his younger sister. The one he no longer had.

He lifted the cover a bit watched break out of her stupor as she quickly got under when the footsteps vibrated in the floor. She was cowering next to him like a child, but noticeably relaxed when he allowed her to grab his hand. She calmed down and laid still as a mouse, and hardly making any visible bulging in the cover.

The door was slid upon and the tall slender frame of none of that Uchiha Aoi stood in with sunlight in his back, leaving his front almost entirely shaded so dark that Naruto could not tell what mood glinted in those Onyx eyes. He never saw that animalistic fury shining in those dark depths.

"Where is she." The man said dangerously as his eyes scanned the room. Then they came to a stop at the Namikaze-heir. "You are hiding, my bride candidate under your cover, are you not?"

Naruto shivered at the sting of cold apathy in the other's smooth voice, but he still lingered on to every word that came from the dark-haired man's fine-looking lips. He wanted this man to be his. He wanted those dark eyes to see him, and he did not know why he craved the other's attention so bad.

"Since you are not going to talk, let's find out, shall we?" And with that the raven-haired man tore the cover away to reveal the girl clinging fearfully onto the blonde man's arm. The Uchiha wasn't pleased. "You little whore..." The dark-haired man looked like he was ready to strike at him, hard. Naruto closed his eyes preparing for the pain to come, but instead of hurting him the other had pulled the crying girl away from him by the hair, making her scream her heart out, in a painfully shrilly shriek.

"STOP! Please!" Naruto was not good at letting others get hurt because of him, he couldn't stand it.

"Don't you dare, tell me how to educate my own bride, NAMIKAZE!" The Uchiha, looked utterly mad and almost vicious now, but the madness faded as the man looked into Naruto's pleading eyes.

"I know, I'm sorry...but please...Don't punish her! She lost her way and came here by mistake. It was me who told her to hide there. Don't take your anger out on a child!" He braved himself despite better judgement. If only he could somehow focus the man's anger on him instead, then he would let the poor girl know.

To his surprise, the Uchiha had listened. "Leave. Now." The Uchiha sneered and glared at her coldly. "Don't tell anyone of this room or things will happen to your family."

"Y-yes, my L-lord." She left sobbing and started running as soon as she was a good distance away from the room in the inner court.

The man turned to him with a glare, after closing the doors tight shut.

Naruto felt naked with the man's intense gaze that was still resting on his body, and it didn't help that he actually was as good as naked, in his much too loose and short, plain white undergarment.

This was the Uchiha compound, he had understood it for a while. That Aoi was his enemy. He knew that. Yet that didn't stop the unwanted rush of excitement spreading like a hot pool in his stomach. The man was with him, looking at him, with this expression that threw him off and at the same time it also made his body heat up. It was something to do with how the man's nostrils flared, and his teeth grit in anger behind strained lips, hiding that smouldering feeling in the other's eyes. "Did she excite you, Namikaze?" The man spoke frostily, hate blazing violently behind the outer layer of frosty indifference in his suave voice.

The madness in his eyes had returned and he kicked the cover even further away from his prey. "Don't look!" The blonde begged, but his words went ignored. He didn't want to feel this way, he didn't want the Uchiha's eyes to have this effect on him, and he certainly did not want to feel that familiar pulsing of blood gathering in his midsection, but it did.

Cruel laughter came from behind him as the man saw the half erect muscle between his legs come to life, and gradually still growing painfully. His mind rung with the other's laughter and ridicule, and Naruto was only faintly aware of the sitting down behind his head, before sinewy pale arms dug under the blonde's shoulders and out near his armpits on each side, and then, Naruto was hoisted up.

With his back against the Uchiha, he was now forced into a sitting position. His erection that had been resting on his stomach now flopped down, stiffly swaying in the free air when his legs was forced to bend and spread by the long pale legs, curled around his own. "Perhaps...anything excites you." The whisper, teased his sensitive neck, and then the hand wrapped around his pulsing shaft firmly. Naruto cried out in silent desperation.

Nimble pale fingers pulled down the foreskin to reveal his bulbous pink glans, with pre-cum already weeping through the slit, and Naruto had to strangle a gasp as it was exposed to air. If he hadn't been fully erected before, he definitely was now because when the hand released him the skin refused to pull back up to cover the full length. He whimpered at the loss of touch, but froze when he felt that pale arm wrapping around his left shoulder, holding the cold metal blade up under his chin, ready to slice his throat, if he resisted too much.

"Any touch makes you feel good, doesn't it?... just like a slut... disgusting.." The man's breaths were coming out short and hot on the nape of his sensitive neck, but Naruto wanted only to cry. If only he could escape this man who hated him with such passion. If only he didn't feel so lost in the other's invasive touches and harsh words.

"Touch yourself, Namikaze."

"N-no, please.."

"Then, would you prefer death?" The man asked, but Naruto had already reached for his sex. "I thought not."

Naruto hesitantly wrapped his right hand around his sweltering cock, and started stroking himself. "Do it faster." The blade grazed his neck, it stung painfully and blood came trickling down along his now sweaty neck and chest, he complied without question, and pumped his pulsing organ faster, but it was by no means a tenth of the pleasure, as when his capturer's hand had barely rubbed his sensitive head.

"It..doesn't feel good. Please...I don't want to do this.." He wept, as tears sprung forth, fear of the blade cutting deeper if he spoke too much, overwhelmed him. The hold on the knife loosened ever so slightly. He was severally disappointed when the man spoke again.

"Use your left hand." The Uchiha ordered.

Straightening his back, he felt the man stiffen against his backside, making Naruto fear he had done something wrong, so he instantly returned to the task at hand and switched hand before he then again began to massage his length, trying to replicate the gentle strokes from before, but no matter what he did, even with a knife to his neck, he couldn't make it feel good, and the left hand was even more weak and awkward to use.

So awkward that Naruto had started to go soft from the cramp that was threatening to settle in his sore arm, that was until he looked down carefully in time to see the other's hand wrap around his, tightening the grip on his organ and interweaving his fingers with Naruto's weak left hand. His erection came to life with the aid of Aoi's insisting and much more forceful hand.

In a few strokes, the Uchiha had the blonde mewling and arching against his solid chest, overtaken by lust. "Ahh..ahhn...Please." Naruto couldn't stop his voice from coming out anymore, as the raven's hand jerked, pulled, rubbed his pulsing manhood and he groaned in response as the heat built in his abdomen, readying to wreck his sore body with spasms of pleasure.

He never noticed when the blade had gone from his throat, because as soon as it had, the man's tongue had covered the bleeding cut on his neck, licking, biting and nibbling on the remnants of blood. "Please..Ahh." Did the man behind feel even a portion of the pleasure Naruto did? He found himself wishing he did, but quickly lost the thought as the other intensified the pumps, all the while sucking on his exposed vein in time with the now rapid jerks of his hand, on the blondes ever pulsating manhood. Naruto could only moan weakly, out of breath, out of strength, out of coherent thoughts but slowly and surely feeling the rise in heat that threatened to erupt at any moment.

"Please.." His moan was guttural and needy. Naruto would cum soon. It was getting closer and he was starting to dread every stroke that could potentially pleasure, as it reached unbearable levels.

The other must have been getting hot as well, because he could smell the man's body now, and became painfully aware of how small he felt in the other's arms. Naruto knew he had lost all articulate sanity as he just went insane with need. And just when he was certain he was about to reach that point, he went rigid and felt every muscle in his body tense, waiting for that last stroke or two and he would be in heaven, those long pale fingers would be covered in his essence.

It never came.

The stroking had stopped, and he snapped his eyes open confused as he felt the building sensation slowly ebb away. "Pathetic." He heard the quiet laughter of Aoi, behind him, forcing the blonde's hands behind his back to stop him from using them.

Like a bucket of ice-cold water had been splashed on him, Naruto instantly cooled down. He felt betrayed, toyed with and heartbroken. This man didn't want him. Didn't need him. Didn't care about him. "You're naive if you think, I'll allow you that pleasure, you mean nothing to me."

His sweat had turned cold and the man had tied his hands and left him, ravenous, longing and throbbing hard, now truly unable to pleasure himself, if only to remove the tip of his frustrations. That was the last time Naruto saw Uchiha Aoi for many months to come.

He had healed up and recovered from near fatal wounds in less than a week, trapped in the enemy's territory, but he did what he could to force together some semblance of a life, and quickly befriended Himeko, and many of the servants in the Uchiha household.

Naruto would forget about Aoi. Forget his sadistic smirk, and his tormenting hands.

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* * *

_._

The lazy servant girls had gathered in the bushes, trying to catch a glimpse of the man in the garden. Their voices were low as they whispered amongst themselves with dusted pink cheeks and shy giggles all the while they observed their Lord's strange guest. Lord Aoi rarely kept company after all so it was no marvel that the man who had softened his icy heart had to be something special. Everyone knew he was now their Lord's right hand man, everyone except of course, the man himself. It had been years ago, that he had visited the Uchiha compound for the first time, and in the first few weeks no one had been able to see him, he had been wounded after all and their master had taken in the sick man out of kindness, the stories about their first meeting were numerous, but all equally unlikely as they all boasted of Aoi's _kindness_.

It was afternoon on a still humid spring day, when the Lord's guest stepped out in the closed-off, inner gardens of the Uchiha clan's compound, much to the females' joy and entertainment. Suddenly it didn't seem so improbable that their Lord might have felt compassion, and even kindness towards this one man. Since he definitely was special. The man possessed an almost terrifying, radiant beauty, with his bright tresses of golden hair that the servant girls had never seen before on a human. His hair spiked softly, shining in the sun like gold, but the front bangs had grown slightly, and the tips of his hair now reached down just long enough to touch the dual-coloured yukata, of deep red and peach. This man's beauty hadn't been that overwhelming years ago, but as time passed and he matured, he had started to form this aura and charisma about him that could easily rival that of their lord, Aoi, who himself had been rumoured to be the most handsome man in their country.

One of the stories about the strange guest that had been spun from mouth to mouth gossip was that the man was the son of a god. It was incredulous, but maybe it had to do with how, that man always gazed towards the sky longingly, and that was how his eyes had turned blue like the sky they reflected. The most brilliant sky blue eyes, deep like the ocean and warm like the sun.

Whispers and smiles came to an abrupt halt, when one of the concubines from the main house made her entrance, efficiently stealing the full attention of their sun god incarnated. The man turned to acknowledge her presence, with a radiant smile.

"Naruto-san, come, come, look at me." The concubine sang teasingly as she twirled around, showing off her new fine-looking kimono. Stitched into the light tea rose coloured silk kimono, were several small cherry blossoms that drew his attention to the soft black hair, framing the girl's mild face. She wore powder, so her eyes and brows had been painted slightly, but not overwhelmingly so that one could not see the beauty beneath the face-paint. Behind the get-up, the man knew how cute her heart-shaped face and big eyes were. Aoi was truly a lucky man.

"Nothing less than beautiful, Himeko" Naruto said impressed and chuckled heartily when the concubine blushed. "I'm sure, the Lord will be charmed by you at the festive meal tonight."

Himeko smiled and stepped closer to the blue-eyed man, with a light blush. "Hopefully. But would... you... if you were in his place?" The woman hesitantly asked, her dark eyes were now glazed over with the faintest hint of a sinful emotion. The blonde remained unreadable as he thought of how to counter the girl's question.

"Of course I would, I already am." He smiled innocently, and winked teasingly, deciding to make it into a moment of friendly joking. The concubine, did not take it such though. Before he had the chance to predict the woman's intent, she instantly swooped in and threw her delicate arms around the his neck and drew him down into an unwelcome soft kiss, that he couldn't resist.

It took the stunned man a moment to react to the forbidden kiss that was forced upon him, and he tried to gently pry her away to not harm her. Himeko was after all from a very influential family so harming her in any way would be instant death penalty.

"We can't do this, Hime." Naruto said sternly. "I care about both you and Aoi, don't do this to me, nothing can ever come from it. You understand right?"

Nodding silently, she began to weep in spite of herself, and Naruto felt his resolve start to thaw. Regardless of what she had just done, he couldn't hate her and nor could he blame her for wanting to be loved. That was at least a reasonable wish, Naruto could sympathize with even more so than most people. So he held her in a loose hug for a few moments whilst he patted her back comfortingly. "Don't cry, I'm not the one you really love."

She knew better, she did, but her lord never paid much attention to her, unlike Naruto who was bright and kind to everyone, just as the light gentle warmth of morning sun on your skin. "I-I..just..." When Naruto gave her a small clench she fell silent once again and fought the pressing sobs that wanted to escape her throat, at the gesture of kindness.

She had against her will fallen in love with Naruto, but she loved Aoi as well. Her lord was just, very hard to love because he did not bond well with humans. At first she had found Naruto fascinating because Aoi spent so much time with him, at first they had not been close, it had seemed like abhor and hatred towards one another, but Aoi had eventually accepted Naruto's presence in the Uchiha compound, but still maintaining a cold distance between them. Naruto had after all managed to wiggle his way into the heart of his clan. Then as time passed she had eventually come to see the two of them for what they were to each other, opposites. Each a different end or side of the same core. They mirrored the traits the other did not have, and slowly she had come to wish that they were one and the same. One complete human. Apart, they were only half human.

Her position in the Uchiha clan was irrevocable, although not a first wife - Aoi had shortly after her arrival declared that he didn't want her as a wife -, she was definitely the most valued concubine. None of that mattered to her though, because her Lord did not notice her at all. Aoi Uchiha was cold, ruthless and uncompassionate, especially in times of war. He was known for his proficient strategic mind in battle and was all-round a powerful ally to have, which made him very sought after by the other clans.

She had overheard Lord Aoi talking with his brother Lord Ichiro, the leader of their clan, about whether it was safe to keep Naruto in their territory. It had been a heated discussion and Aoi had admitted that he had found Naruto Namikaze unconscious on the battlefield after the death of their last Hokage, Naruto's father and whole clan had been eradicated by unknown attackers, but Naruto lived, he had been laying abandoned and barely alive for days among the bodies of the slain. Namikaze was a mysterious clan that many had feared due to suspicions regarding demonic possessions of the members in the main family. Rumours said the Namikaze fought like beasts, that they were immortal, and that they could heal themselves at lightning speed. It was not a light matter, so they had kept Naruto locked up for weeks in the inner part of the Uchiha compound where no servants were allowed. That was where she had met him, for the very first time.

Naruto had by no means shown any signs of evil intent or demonic possession during his stay in the inner quarters and so they had made a deal with one of the allied clans to adopt Naruto into their household, only-in-name, because it was too dangerous for him to be known as Namikaze. The clan that had taken him in had been the Uzumakis who used to have tight relations with the Namikaze, and they were strong clan known for their longevity and endurance in battle. It was no wonder really that Naruto fit right in, with his excessive energy and friendly personality.

Lord Aoi had then witnessed his capabilities in battle and soon called upon Naruto to serve under them in their wars. Naruto was a kind soul, everyone knew, so it had been a surprise to everyone when they had fought with him by their side. Naruto could be fiercely protective and serious one moment, only till the next moment where he could act almost foolish and rash like a child, unable to take care of even himself. It was just a facade though. Naruto was not helpless, nor was he someone too weak to protect those dear to him. He used the element of surprise to his advantage, and the enemies fell one after another. Naruto was always fatally underestimated, but that was how he was.

From the way he seemed so clueless about people's feelings towards him, to his unlimited supply of daring energy and strong trust in his comrades, that helped pushing the people around him forward and past their limits. He was full of care and encouragement for his fellow kin. It was hard to not like him despite his sometimes, boisterous and foolish behaviour. He was loud and rude mainly when put together with Aoi, who in turn became much more animated and started raising his voice too. Aoi spoke more, laughed more and smiled more. All because of the effect Naruto had on him.

Himeko owed Naruto everything, because of him, she had managed to find her place in the household as well, even if she was not loved by their Lord. Naruto was worth a thousand times more as a friend. An intruding sound made its presence known behind them and they broke apart immediately, leaving Himeko to wonder if Naruto felt the same loss of heat and comfort as she did.

"Lord Ichiro." Naruto greeted, and his grin had faded slightly. It was Aoi's older brother, who had been observing them.

"Naruto," The dark-haired man nodded in acknowledgement at him and then turned to Himeko. "Hime, you should be in your room now."

She was bit scared of Aoi's older brother but knew Naruto did not fear the man in the least. Himeko bowed and bid them her farewell before obeying Ichiro's command and promptly leaving the garden. Ichiro smirked and turned to Naruto who gazed at him with a discerning eye, unafraid, stubborn and bold. The longhaired man almost laughed.

"Don't look so fearless, I have not come to punish you." The brother smiled this time, a genuine smile, with a face so similar to Aoi's that it made Naruto's heart drop. This man, Ichiro, resembled an older version of the man Naruto was not allowed harbour feelings for, perfectly. And so, the blonde could not decide whether it was a curse or a blessing that the older brother liked him so much.

"Do I get a kiss too?" Ichiro teased as he strolled closer, and closer to Naruto who couldn't help but be caught up in those profound onyx eyes, that reminded him agonizingly much of Aoi's.

Naruto did not back away when the man stopped up right in front of him, looming dangerously like a dark shadow next to a being of the light. "Can't you come to love me instead?"

Couldn't Ichiro who was a shadow like Aoi was, complete him as well?

"Life would be easier if I did, would it not?" Naruto said tonelessly as the older brother of his heartache leant in to catch Naruto's swollen lips with his own smouldering ones. It was pained, needy, passionate, and insatiable. Arousing even. Still... the feelings that the sensations invoked in his body weren't directed towards the man that was kissing him, but the man he saw in the other's appearance.

_Aoi.  
_  
- _Memory Fragment_

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* * *

_._

Sasuke couldn't wake up, despite the high level of discipline he had maintained compulsively when it came to sleeping in late in the afternoon. It wasn't until the mattress had started moving, grinding, rocking and moaning under him, that he became aware of the foreign object that was massaging his crotch. "Nnh..Ahh, stop torturing me..."

The older teen opened his Onyx eyes wide to the sight of a neck with soft and fragrant blonde hair. Naruto was under his body, with spread legs, grinding eagerly up against Sasuke's own equally needy hard-on that he hadn't been aware of till now.

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A BIG Thanks to shia naru and Achicknamedbob for reading a preview of the story and giving me some very useful opinions. Please review.

Please tell me you guys see the similarities between the people of the past and the people of the present.


	9. Pyrrhic Victory: Part I

**Orenji****  
**_Written by_**F**_e_I**l**_a**n**_

**Preview Summary**:ツ When an Uchiha speaks, you listen. When an Uchiha offers their hand in friendship, you take it. When an Uchiha wants something, they will have it. So why does his foolish blonde dobe of a neighbour refuse him time and time again? The only logical answer - The boy must be crazy. SasuNaru, minor ItaNaru. Slightly homophobic!Sasuke (easier than denial).

**Extended Summary:**

_Prologue_

Sasuke Uchiha is an eight year old boy, and antisocial loner, living a life of boredom with riches, a better-knowing brother and a father who is never home. One day new neighbours move in next to them and Sasuke decides to make his blonde neighbour his very first friend. However Naruto Uzumaki has something to say about that because he does not want any friends. Angered by his refusal he starts spying on the blonde and he quickly learns that his shy-looking, timid blonde dobe of a neighbour has many secrets to keep. Why does Naruto not go to school? Why is he always so pale? And is his snake-like bankrobber-guardian as evil as he looks or does it have something to do with Naruto's four-legged imaginary friend?

_After the prologue -_

The raven-haired Uchiha is in for more than he can handle, when he despite all odds manages to make friends with his dobe, but it all ends when Naruto mysteriously disappears, and only Sasuke remembers who Naruto is. Eight years later, the latest hot model Sasuke finds himself still thinking of the boy, until one day Naruto reappears. Too bad for Sasuke though, because Naruto has forgotten who he is. What is wrong with Naruto?

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Naruto Universe, or any part thereof.

**Warning**: No beta, heavy longwinded metaphors because the author is one confusing mess. Sasuke displays signs of being a control freak, egoist, narcissist, as well as having obsessive- and a possessive tendencies. **Jealous!Sasuke **watch out for that one, he can pack quite a temper over small things.  
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Overall Warnings**: AU, Controlling!Sasuke, Demon!Naruto, Timeskip, Past lives and thousand year old fox demons. Memory lapses of Naruto's past life in the Ninja-verse. Don't read if you have a short attention span, the story is long and contains underlying plots, so turn around **if you can't handle something different** from a typical highschool story/Naruto-Sasuke gets famous story/Nonsense romance with lemons each chapter story, because this isn't one of those and that isn't the main focus. There will be romance, lots of it, but I don't plan to speed it up.

**A/N**: For those who find it hard to grasp what the actual plot is about, read the extended summary and overall warnings, but before that, **Fasten your Seat-belts**, lean back and get comfortable, and remember to always keep yourself hydrated with a drink nearby!

I hope you guys can forgive Sasuke. As I warned you all from the beginning, he is possessive. Overly so when he knows he can't control what he wants to possess. I personally love a Sasuke who can be a possessive bastard, as long as he is Naruto's possessive bastard. Don't worry guys, Naruto is capable of hitting back, he is no wuss. Those readers out there who loves Itachi, please don't hate my guts. *cringes*

Yana asked if there couldn't be a threesome. Impossibruuuu, but I might do a tragic oneshot with Itachi/Naruto sometime in the future, with references to this story. I was wondering. Does the memories bother anyone? Or do you like to read them too?

Last chapter's memory was included as part of the chapter itself because it explains some things about Naruto. There will eventually be a chapter or two more going back to the past, depending on how much I need to cover.

**Two things you guys should keep in mind.**

1. In case anyone has caught on, then yes, when I wrote in the preview summary, implying that Naruto's "craziness was contagious" it does mean that Sasuke's past self affects him too in a way.

2. This ninja verse is not like the manga/anime. It has some elements in it that are similar. But don't compare them or you will be sorely disappointed and confused. Villages have the same names, Clans have the same names, there is power struggles going on, but tailed beasts are limited to Kyuubi. Akatsuki - if they do exist somewhere there is no Itachi and they probably won't be mentioned. The rest do not exist or this story might as well have been placed in the past. Hokage's exists, but the rich heirs of old clans has the title Lord, Aoi gained his title through other means as he isn't the first born, rest you won't need to know for now.

Thanks to those who bothered reading this, very long A/N, sorry for the wall of text.  
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Naruto felt a lingering sense of fulfilment, in his body and he intended to fully savour the moment of tranquillity for as long as he could. Something he had craved for five long months, but the battlefield would let no one leave early, unless they were dead. Now he was finally back, after spending almost half a year fending off the Ninjas from the Sound village.

He sensed the other's onyx eyes watching him warmly beneath long smooth bangs of loose black hair, that were now clinging to the man's face from the sweat, and had no doubt that if Naruto had let the other, the man could definitely go for another round, but Naruto was still too exhausted from the intensity of just one session. The sexy man at his side was all he could ever ask for, handsome, intelligent, kind yet a bit mischievous but most of all, very loving and caring.

Naruto who had never really given intimacy and sex much thought till the ripe age of twenty had found himself growing somewhat addicted to his lover, and like a true lover he was, because Naruto had been spoiled to pieces. Never did he have to beg for attention, or deal with ridiculous drama of misunderstandings, his lover gave him everything in the right amount, and never seemed to complain, it was almost weird.

The beautiful man laid in silent contemplation under his cover with a faint but serene smile plastered to his face as he let his pale hand gently trace Naruto's protruding clavicle bone, delicately, reaching the shoulder joint and turning around to graze his tan neck, lovingly. Small goose bumps covered his body at the hair rising touch.

"Don't tease me." Naruto whined, turning to look at the other with soft blue eyes.

To his frustrating the other merely cracked a familiar smirk and started drawing little circles on his exposed tummy, slowly drawing closer and closer to Naruto's navel.

"Then, don't go back." The man said and his eyes looked sad for a moment. "You never sleep here."

"I have to..." Naruto said, quickly breaking eye contact. "I can't be seen here."

The man nodded after a moment, but didn't give up. "I could wake you up early if you wish."

Naruto turned on his side to face his lover, and snuggled into the pale chest as if looking for comfort, but really he couldn't bear to see the hope in man's eyes, it made him feel guilty, so very guilty. Naturally the other's arms wrapped around him and held him close, protectively. Naruto felt safe, he loved the man, it might be a different love than the one he had imagined he should have so long ago but he knew that with time and patience he could love him completely. Ichiro deserved that, but Naruto knew that he had filial duties to his Clan he had to fulfil as the successor. Ichiro was his father's first born son, and Naruto couldn't possible hog the man for himself forever. No matter how tempting it was.

"Just...just a few hours." Naruto smiled and gave in. He enjoyed the sound of the man's heart, as he leant into his chest. Its beat was steady and strong like he had always suspected it was. Strong, powerful and kind. Ichiro's protective grip had loosened a little bit, making it more comfortable for the sleepy blonde, and he succumbed to sleep.  
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* * *

.

It was still dark outside, when he snuck out of his Lord's sleeping quarters, careful to not alert the guards who were busy playing a game of Go in the faint lantern light down the narrow passage. He swiftly jumped up on the roof and with light feathery steps, he cut through the passage to the guest quarters, and landed gracefully in the outer garden in a crouching position to scout the area for other patrols. When he spotted none he made his way to the thin, bamboo fences separating the garden. Naruto would need additional speed to manoeuvre his way over those without breaking them.

As he was about to jump, something hit him in the side and he fell into the bedewed grass, grunting in pain, but swiftly getting up to face his attacker, but he had jumped back in the shadows of the building as if he did not want to be seen.

"Where have you been?"

It was Aoi.

He must have been standing hidden in the shadows, waiting for Naruto like a hunter on his prey.

The blonde frowned. "I guess calling it a pleasant evening stroll won't cut it." He cracked a foxy smile, sheepishly. Honestly he did not care if Aoi knew he was lying. Why did the bastard have to suddenly care what Naruto did, it wasn't like they had ever reached the friendliest of terms, but after all Naruto had done for his family, shouldn't he at least trust Naruto enough to not spy, or follow him around like he was a criminal who had to be kept under close observation.

Aoi glared, Naruto could feel it even though the other was still hidden in the shadows. Naruto had buried the vengeance hatchet against the Uchihas, for Ichiro. Ichiro was who kept him sane these days, the demon was strangely quiet since he had started seeing the Head of the Uchiha clan. "I was just delivering my report to Ichi-your brother, our team managed to catch a spy, a former leaf ninja, who worked together with-"

"Stay _away_ from him."

"Excuse me?" Naruto blurted out in disbelief.

"Usuratonkachi." From the shadows, the younger brother appeared, but it was neither hate nor rage that was the dominant feeling in the other's face. The Uchiha's cold eyes were downcast as if he was afraid to look up into the silver-ish light of the full moon and his hair danced with the cold breeze of air, although his face was still half covered in the shade of the roof one thing that Naruto noticed right away was that Aoi's cheeks seemed a bit wet, but it hadn't been raining.

"You know what, I'm sick of this. If you have something to confirm. Don't kill the messenger, just ask your brother. I'm out of here." Naruto grumbled and made to leave when the other grabbed him again instinctively.

"Let go."_ Leave_ _Aoi, just leave and stop meddling in my life. Stop tormenting me._

"I'm not letting go." Aoi had finally looked up at Naruto with blazing eyes. Then, suddenly, his onyx- red eyes widened slightly and the look in them changed into something Naruto couldn't describe until the mask that he had come to hate was put on again and the raven appeared unfazed. Naruto felt his heart go heavy with sadness and a weird sense of craving, emotions that weren't his, was one of the guests having a nightmare, the piercing sadness certainly hinted towards someone being very depressed.

"How many hours have you been waiting here for me? Oh, let me take a guess, five? Six?" The blonde suggested mockingly, enjoying the view of the Uchiha's face rapidly changing from his painted on mask of cool composure to that indescribable feeling that he had seen just a minute ago. Naruto didn't give a damn about the other's godforsaken pride. Naruto tried to cut off the foreign feelings that kept harassing his mind, and now there was fear and uncertainty mixed in as well, and he finally understood that these weren't the feelings from someone having a nightmare in their sleep, these feelings were oozing off of Aoi like a thick cloaking, aura of depression. "Or...All night?"

"You're dirtying him." Aoi said, menacingly now back to ignoring Naruto's words completely as he slowly moved closer by the second. Naruto's natural reaction should have been to be scared, but he wasn't, he simply looked at the other, letting him draw closer all the while his heartbeat increased in hopeless excitement. He hated this feeling, he absolutely loathed it. "You think I'm blind? Like I don't know what the two of you are doing..."

"I never forced your brother to be with me." Naruto said sternly, with a tint of self-righteousness. Aoi didn't want him, so why did he have to meddle in his matters with Ichiro. It infuriated Naruto the way, Aoi thought himself above him, Lord or not, Naruto would never let this man control his feelings again.

He was faintly aware of the pale hand tracing his neck, just as Ichiro's had done. The hand on his neck wasn't warm though, It was cold, very very cold. Really,how long had Aoi been waiting out here? The raven had avoided answering that.

Aoi gazed at him, and his eyes sharpened at the marks on Naruto's neck. Aoi's touch had been almost gentle, now it was the feeling of nails scraping across his skin back and forth as if trying to erase something. The Uchiha's face was sending him an indecipherable message. Naruto did not know why his heart picked up in pace when the raven's perfect lips, pulled into a sideways smirk. The man wanted to control him. Naruto knew the other well enough to figure that out, too bad though, because Naruto hated being controlled.

"Then. Let me replace him." The Uchiha's eyes glowed red with danger. "Take me in his stead. I'll lend you my body, all you want is someone who looks like him, isn't that it?"

Naruto gulped, under the still scraping touch as the other continued.

"...but if I ever see you mingling with and soiling the Head of our Clan... our pride and foundation again... I will personally dispose of you."

- _Memory fragment_

.

**Orenji**  
Ch. 9  
- Pyrrhic Victory  
(_Part One_)

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* * *

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Sasuke couldn't make himself wake up, despite the high level of discipline he had maintained compulsively when it came to sleeping till late in the afternoon, but he also had never felt as comfortable lazing around in bed as he did today. Something was different, softer, and more fit to the shape of his body. The bed was warm and a nice calming scent clung to the mattress and cover. Never had Sasuke been this ecstatically warm before, he couldn't help but burrow into the mattress with a sigh of bliss as he felt the softness shift under him with a groan.

It wasn't until the mattress had started moving, grinding, rocking and moaning a bit more under him, that he became aware of the foreign object that was massaging his crotch. Then a voice moaned in a hushed whisper, next to his ear. "...Ahh, stop torturing me."

A male voice.

The older teen opened his onyx eyes wide to the sight of a neck full of soft and fragrant, blonde hairs. He was laying on top of a body. No. _Naruto_ was under _his_ body, with his legs spread, grinding eagerly upwards out of rhythm and all randomly, but it touched him, it sent shivers through his sleep drunk body, the hard bulge was...Naruto's hard bulge was rubbing against Sasuke's own equally needy hard-on that he hadn't been aware of till now.

Mortification worse than shock washed over Sasuke as he tried to scramble away in utter bafflement, from the now excruciatingly warm body. He had to cool his raging hard-on. He had to clear his mind from these weird thoughts of how screwed he would be had he not still been wearing all his clothes, unlike Naruto who clung to him whimpering and moaning as he rubbed himself on Sasuke shamelessly, continuously, through a thin pair of boxers.

Naruto was under him, hard, needy and gasping delectably, because of Sasuke... It was all a weird dream.

Naruto had a death grip on him though and the more Sasuke struggled, whilst trying not to wake the other up, to back away from the hold those sun kissed smooth thighs had on his middle, the more eagerly the boy's strong hips were clenching around him in desperation to keep the pleasant pressure Sasuke's body applied in place.

Sasuke unwillingly let out a low grunt as the blonde's arms wrapped around his chest pulling him back down, in sweet desperation all the while rocking their bodies together in a more steady pace. Was Naruto truly completely unaware that his wet dream was slowly crumbling the Raven's sanity and the soft hushed yet low moans increasing in volume had been the only thing to make the other hesitate.

Then something happened, he didn't know whether is it was the way Naruto moaned so lusciously that caused him to simply no longer care to pay attention, or if it was the way Naruto's hands, that had been hugging him in place a moment ago, had suddenly begun sliding Sasuke's pants off delicately, pulling them down below his hips out of nowhere that suddenly made him feel a whole lot more, but he grew, and he thrust down, and he didn't know what had gotten into him, but he couldn't stop wanting to feel more of that mindboggling friction and so he had unconsciously started thrusting back.

Controlled and testing thrusts had turned into deep downwards ones, that made him wish he could just die, in shame for feeling so turned on right now, that it didn't seem impossible that he could actually get off on thrusting down on Naruto's smaller body with this unexplained vigour, this need, this craving. This wasn't him. Sasuke didn't do these things with other men.

None of those thoughts could stop his desire from building, he thought for sure if he stopped now he would lose his mind, he didn't want to stop the friction. He didn't want Naruto to stop moaning for him, he didn't want to ever move away.

Sasuke had lost his mind, completely and utterly lost all sense of right and wrong. His body wouldn't listen, and his mind wouldn't understand. But Naruto fixed all that and made it right when he whispered, "I-I love you," Sasuke, heard a deep moan, it had come from himself. He was shaking and his thrusts had become short, fast and desperate. If he didn't stop soon, it would be too late. He would have to release the pressure. Then the blonde suddenly cupped his face, and pulled their faces together, and he met the blonde's lips in a scorching kiss that would have killed any last resistance in him with its loving sweetness, then it broke and Naruto gasped."A-aoi."

Sasuke's blood ran cold.

"I love you, Aoi." His body stopped responding, and deep inside something cracked, as if his mind had been wiped clean of all the new worldly pleasures he had felt a moment before. Now there was emptiness and indifference towards the blonde beneath him, who had finally stopped confusing and clouding his mind with his needy rocking motions and throaty moans that brought weird new sensations, but none of that mattered because the next thing Sasuke knew was that he saw red. Screaming mad-fucking-red.

Anger. Fury. Madness.

All of those were heightened to the extreme and he felt a vicious urge to harm the boy in some sick way. To violate him, and make him cry. To make him pay for what he had done to Sasuke. For what he had made him feel. Naruto had used him. Used Sasuke to get off on some sick fantasy, with some guy named Aoi.

And then he did it, once he had regained control of his body. He threw a punch at Naruto, the only way he knew how to release these foreign feelings that didn't even feel like his own, because never had he felt such a burning, muscle aching pain and tension wrecking him to the core, powerful emotion. Sasuke never lost control, he never gave into this type of violent anger, but Naruto...made him snap and disprove of all previous assumptions he had about himself being above violence.

The startled blonde winced in pain and instinctively used both his arms to block the next punch at face, where blue eyes had opened, wide in shock when Sasuke's fist connected with his underarm and nearly fractured his bone, the protective muscle cramped in pain. "What the fuck is wrong with you, teme?!" Naruto growled as he was looking into Sasuke's smouldering onyx eyes, full of unfathomable rage and fury, when the other had stopped up for a moment.

"Fuck..._you_..." The raven quivered slightly ready to punch again but Naruto caught his fists and barely managed to avert them, but he did and it sent Sasuke tumbling to the floor. "What have you done to me!" Sasuke was on top of him again trying to wrestle for dominance, just a moment later.

"Get yourself together man, we can't be fighting!" Naruto sneered, still oblivious to his still hard problem, and Sasuke's too for that matter. One thing, his fury hadn't taken away. Sasuke was glaring.

Naruto blinked confused, as he looked away from Sasuke's burning eyes, letting his eyes travel down to see where Sasuke was positioned between his legs, pants pulled almost half down, and still slightly bulgy. "Sasuke...why were you...on top of me?" Naruto blushed, as he finally became aware of the constricting feeling of his underwear, hot and humid, almost sweaty for some reason.

Sasuke fidgeted as he backed away from the still spread legs in front of him, unable to avoid the blonde whose azure eyes travelled downwards and came to a halt at Sasuke still hard erection, throbbing painfully inside its own confinement. He had actually managed to get hard from rubbing against another guy, and now Naruto would surely think that he had done something...perverted to him. "It's not what it looks like!"

Sasuke had stumbled off the bed, dragging the duvet on the floor with him as he hastily tugged at the hem of his large t-shirt, hoping to cover the bulge, somehow. Out of sight, out of mind. The world didn't work like that though. "It's not ." Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. His mind was racing and throbbing like his lower part, from the stress suddenly placed on him as the blonde studied him with a look of deep contemplation.

Naruto looked at him again solemnly, with silence, then to Sasuke's bewilderment closed his eyes and sighed heavily like he was about to explain the obvious to a complete idiot. "Is that why you started punching me?" Sasuke felt a rush of heat, and anger cross his face. The blonde idiot wouldn't believe a thing Sasuke had to say. "Because you're afraid?"

"Afraid? What the hell are you talking about!"

"Don't give me that look like I'm dumb, I get it..." Naruto hesitated for a moment, his blue eyes clear with determination. "I mean...I get you, I really do...it can be a bit embarrassing to discover that you are gay for the first time... but I would never start fucking beating you to pulp in your sleep out of my own embarrassment. Did you just on a whim decide to dry hump the daylights out of me because it was convenient? Then when I reacted to it, got hard and...even felt good," The blonde added hesitantly."You got scared, panicked and decided to beat me up over it? Are you some child!? Geez I should have just left you sitting and gone to your bedroom, you ungrateful arse."

Each word bore a hole in Sasuke.

Onyx eyes darkened as Sasuke's weak mask of calm cracked. "I'm _not_ gay! You are!"

Naruto looked at him with a _no-shit-Sherlock_ face and laughed bitterly, blue eyes weighing Sasuke's bottomless black ones, with something akin to sympathy. "You are one funny bastard Sasuke. But you are only half right, I'm bisexual. What does it matter anyways, I wasn't the one laying on top and- "

It wasn't enough. Sasuke wanted to shout, to strangle, to just silence the blonde as he continued picking out every little thing that could have possibly been misunderstood to Sasuke's disadvantage, but he was just way too surprised, stunned in disbelief, to do any of those. Naruto wasn't even bothered or slightly embarrassed about it all. Naruto was flaming gay, or bi, and had done this and worse things with others before Sasuke, probably that Aoi guy too, so none of it mattered to the blonde. Naruto hadn't done it because he was interested in Sasuke and that was why the raven couldn't let this go. Naruto was gay. He had made love to other men. And he still had the brazenness to make Sasuke feel gay, if only for a minute or two, and he hated the blonde for that.

"I didn't touch you! You crazy dobe it was YOU! YOU DID THIS! You were already busy humping me and it fucking woke me up! Don't think I got...hard because of you...I was sleeping, it's not like my body could tell whether you were male or female, it's a natural reaction!" Sasuke had officially lost it, using every excuse he could come up with to get his point across, Naruto had better not dare to think that Sasuke actually wanted him, in the slightest. He could not tell though, if he didn't want Naruto because the blonde was a guy, or if it was because Naruto could never truly belong to him, and that was something Sasuke couldn't fathom nor accept.

"If I was really doing that to you, then why didn't you just get the fuck off of me, or wake me up...normally? You're full of shit and your face screams denial." Naruto had gotten off the bed now, and looked almost impressive despite his smaller stature. "I can prove it to you."

"What?" Sasuke was baffled as the blonde came dangerously close to him.

Then he grabbed, Sasuke by the shirt and pulled it up over his head and wriggling arms, throwing it to another corner of the room, the shocked raven made to get his clothes back but Naruto took to underhanded measures intercepted the boy, using his weight against him to throw him on the bed, and quickly crawled on top, straddling the other and wrestling to fend off the arms that lunged at him, frantically trying to shove him off.

"Get off of me, don't fucking-!" Sasuke's voice broke and he had a sharp intake of air when Naruto's hand dug down into his pants, grabbing the now only semi-hard length, and giving it a few quick pumps whilst using his thumb to tease the head. His raised fists that had been ready to strike, lost strength instantly, and Naruto's blue eyes were looking straight at him with vigilance at first, but then cracked a smile as Sasuke's lips parted, and his dark eyes grew hazy with pleasure.

"Well, seems gay to me." Naruto smiled in victory. "You're dripping on my hand."

Sasuke swallowed a groan. "S...Stop." Sasuke wasn't gay, he wasn't. He was sure. So why did Naruto, how could Naruto make him feel so good. Where was the disgust, he had felt when his classmate Neji Hyuuga had tried to kiss him, and Sasuke had been only fourteen and still unsure of his sexuality. What about when he had caught Sai fucking his boyfriend in the dojo, and he had felt such revulsion that he had even confided in his psychiatrist about it? "Dobe, stop..."

It didn't make sense, it had to be, sexual frustration. Sasuke didn't actually want to be touched by Naruto. That was why he could resist the urge to thrust into the warm hand wasn't it. It felt hot, but right now anything would he was sure. Naruto's hand, was holding him, pumping him at a good pace, and Sasuke felt pleasure he would never admit to, but, he _really_, didn't like laying under. However, if their positions were reversed, would he be ramming Naruto into the bed, like he thought he would? He didn't want to find out. He wasn't the same as Itachi. "D-don't...touch me..with your filthy...hands."

"Filthy? My hands are clean you asshole."

Sasuke was close, but it was shameful, so shameful to be jerked to a breaking point by a guy. He grabbed Naruto's arm, and with sudden strength from sheer willpower, he forced the offending hand to let go on him, ignoring the loss of pleasure. "You are...violating another person...I told you to stop didn't I?!"

Naruto pulled his arm out of Sasuke's still not entirely strong grip, and moved off of the other. Naruto did look a bit guilty. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that," The blonde began. "You just pissed me off, screaming gay this gay that... I don't care what you are. It has nothing to do with me, but seriously stop getting all touchy over small things like this. It is like you are begging to be provoked or something..."

Sasuke glared, and he wanted to let Naruto see just how pissed he was, but at the same time he didn't want to look at Naruto right now, he wasn't sure he could talk with the boy again, on friendly terms for a good while after this. So he got off the bed without looking at the other and went straight to his room angry, frustrated and even offended but most of all, confused. Sasuke didn't know what to make of all this. Especially not what had gotten him so upset to the point of stooping to the level of a mere caveman.

It wasn't like he could just take out his club, knock the blonde out and pull him back to his cave by the hair and claim him as his.

Where had the revulsion and disgust gone?

Naruto had stayed here for one day and Sasuke already had to question if he really was as straight as he thought he was.

.

* * *

Naruto didn't really understand at first, just how damaging his teasing had been. If Sasuke really was closet gay, it was kind of abrupt of Naruto to just go so head on strong with him so suddenly. He just wasn't a master of subtlety when it came to emotional problems. Had he ever been? He truly didn't know what was up and down anymore. Sasuke had claimed to know Naruto so he had thought, talking some with the other teen would have refreshed his memory, but cold, detached Sasuke still remained an element of mystery to him.

Being punched awake was a new thing for him altogether, he could slightly reminisce having some sort of dirty dream but he couldn't seem to remember any of it now, he really wished he could though, his imagination was always a happy surprise for him, and it all seemed like some alternative real world. Unfortunately, Naruto never remembered his dreams, but he did remember dreaming them again and again, the images just seemed to blur away from his mind as soon as he woke up.

Sasuke must have been pretty mad at him right now, Naruto couldn't imagine anyone ever taking the raven by surprise but he had managed to. Was it worth the closed door he was currently staring at? Maybe, maybe not. He couldn't deny that Sasuke was definitely his type, so it wouldn't be unlikely that he could have...perhaps done something in his sleep, but Naruto wasn't ever desperate enough to try to obtain anyone's feelings with force. Sasuke really had pissed him off though with his hypocritical way of thinking.

Naruto huffed. Stupid Uchiha, always a pain in the ass, but how would he know that? He didn't but he had a feeling, that if he had known Sasuke before, he would still think the same thing. Uchihas were troublesome. Too prideful, too controlling and arrogant. Itachi at least had never been controlling or arrogant in Naruto's eyes.

It was now late in the afternoon and Sasuke had not come out to sit with him at all, so Naruto had finally decided to clean up a bit, mainly after himself, but that was what he was here for.

No sooner had he brought out the Hoover and put it together, before he heard the steady knocking on the door. Getting up and dusting himself off, he went to the door, and opened it, hesitantly. Was Sasuke expecting any guests?

"Hello?"

The visitor stood before him frozen looking at him with surprise for a moment, before raising a hand to rub his temples like he had felt an oncoming headache make its way. Naruto blinked as if to check if the visitor was a figment of his imagination, and it wouldn't surprise him if it was, because he had seen the man several times before, for his inner eye, but in dreams and in memories, but this illusion didn't disappear, the man had a warmth radiating off his body, a pulse and a scent. Inside him, Naruto could feel his own life-force, still burning bright and strong in the man's heart and being near it after so long had an almost magnetic force on his body.

His eyes burned.

"Itachi."

Naruto felt like crying... no he was already crying, and he didn't know why but he cried from seeing the older Uchiha. He couldn't stop the tears. Standing there, on Sasuke's doorstep in his black suit and red tie, with his long soft hair that had been gathered in a loose ponytail. The ponytail rested over the pinnacle of his right shoulder and hung down his chest in its full length like a shining waterfall of black gold. His profound onyx eyes, framed by delicate, sharp eyebrows, held a faint hue of crimson. He could only be, Itachi Uchiha.

"Did I do something wrong?" The man looked at him, confused by his tears. "You know my name, but my brother didn't tell you I was coming over, did he?"

"S-sorry, I-I'm just a bit off today." Naruto quickly wiped his eyes with the sleeves of his shirt. Itachi had forgotten who he was, and Naruto would rather not know to what extend he had been forgotten so he quickly added. "H-he just told me your name."

"Hmm, I see, I didn't think Sasuke talked about me. I'm glad to hear that." Itachi looked worriedly at the crying blonde, and quickly peeked inside the open door to see if his brother was roaming around somewhere in the background, but there was no sight of Sasuke. "Are you sure, everything is, okay? You live with my younger brother Sasuke, don't you?"

"Yea...for now at least." Naruto blushed scratching the back of his head awkwardly, and tried to smile hoping the redness in his eyes would soon go away. "I'm good, really I am, it's just that you remind me of someone, I haven't seen in so long."

Itachi looked taken aback, but smirked. "I see, I hope my look-alike didn't treat you poorly." The Uchiha chuckled when Naruto blushed profusely as he shook his head.

"Come in. I'm sorry, but Sasuke, has locked himself up in his room and refuses to talk with me." Naruto quickly explained, hoping Sasuke wouldn't bitch to his brother about what Naruto had done to him earlier.

However the Uchiha was busy looking around the stylish apartment, curiously as if it was his first time seeing it. Naruto couldn't how known how right he was. "Don't mind Sasuke, he always sulks over the littlest of things."

"I-Is that so?" Naruto cursed his stammering and lack of composure around the older Uchiha.

It didn't get any better when Itachi turned around to face him again.

"I forgot to ask before but, what is your name?"

"Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki." The blonde said, finally gaining more control over his voice as the shock had slowly begun to settle in him. He couldn't take his eyes off Itachi's amused eyes, staring back at him with a mischievous glint in them.

"Naruto-kun, would you like to go out somewhere for dinner? It is getting late and I doubt you will see more of Sasuke when he is one of those moods." The raven-haired man suggested, as he walked towards the kitchen counter, Naruto was leaning on. "It would be sad to stay home on a saturday night, I know a few places we can go to afterwards if you'd like to stay out a bit longer."

"Really? You mean you would take me out?" Naruto perked up excitedly, he hadn't been out having fun in so long, and with Itachi of all people, how could he say no. Then he remembered why he hadn't been out. "But...I don't have any money on me right now so...I really can't go out."

"I'm paying." Itachi leaned down on the other side of the counter, never taking his eyes off of the bubbly blonde boy. "I offered it, don't worry about the cost, Naruto-kun. You're my brother's precious flatmate."

"I would love to go! It's been so boring being stuck here for the past two days." Naruto grinned excitedly, feeling a sudden urge to jump up and down the walls, with the overflow of energy filling him up.

The raven reached out for the bag he had brought along and placed it on the counter in front of the blonde, giving him a quizzical glance. "I meant to give this to Sasuke, I would sometimes take him out when we were younger, but he has been avoiding me recently, ever since he moved out from our childhood home. You should wear this."

Naruto gazed at Itachi with a tinge of sympathy. Sasuke had been avoiding Itachi? When his brother was this nice. Naruto frowned and felt almost guilty for accepting the clothes that had been meant for Sasuke. Sasuke didn't know how lucky he was, to have a brother like Itachi, it was almost sad. Besides Itachi seemed to have planned this out already, so how could Sasuke refuse to see his brother, Naruto didn't get it.

"Are you sure it's ok?" Naruto truly considered staying home.

Itachi smirked, looking him up and down. "Yes, they should fit you too, even though you're a bit more...pudgy in certain areas than my brother."

"Pudgy?! Where?" Naruto looked down at himself and blushed when he realised, that Itachi was talking about his backside. "Oh, right, yeah I never quite managed to slim down that part me."

"Slim down? You don't need to." The Uchiha paused, suddenly looking like he was at a loss of words, or struggled to find the right words. "You have a, erh... healthy butt. I didn't mean to offend you."

"...I'll go change." Naruto blushed and stomped off to the bathroom, and he had a unnerving feeling that the man was staring at his ass the whole way.

Damn these Uchihas...

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* * *

.

It was midnight when Sasuke couldn't ignore the rumbling in his stomach anymore and had decided to tread out of his room. The appartment was dark and there was no sign of Naruto roaming around anymore. Sasuke set off for the kitchen, and opened the fridge in search of one of his prepared dishes, he could eat a cow right now and anything would do, even that Teriyaki chicken neatly wrapped on third row. The raven pulled it out and placed it on the table and closed the fridge. On the backside of the plate a little post-it was placed as if to seal the cellophane.

Glaring for a moment he decided to read the note. It had to be a note from Naruto, and he wasn't disappointed.

_'Teme,_

_Sorry about this morning, I know I went too far, I promise I won't ever tease you like that anymore, so please. Would you come out and play some games with me when you see this? It's really lonely out here._

_Sincerely_  
_- Naruto _

_Ps. Please enjoy this meal!'_

Sasuke frowned as he looked at the teriyaki with caution as if it could be a prank, ready to explode in his face, but when his stomach rumbled again, he decided it was edible and placed the plate in the microwave, pressing start. His throat felt strangely dry again and he turned to face the fridge again, suddenly craving some orange juice. After pouring himself a glass he put the carton back inside the fridge and closed the door. And that's when he saw a second note.

He scowled at the note stuck to the door of the fridge, and quickly pulled it off. Stupid Naruto had more to say, apparently.

_'Dearest Baby Brother,_

_I make time out of my own busy schedule to see you and still you refuse to spend time with me, don't you think that this rebellious phase of yours has gone on long enough? I hope to see you on the tenth of next month. In case you forgot, that is my birthday. So now, I take my leave, and I hope to see you next time._

_Oh and before I forget to mention this. I found an energetic blonde boy, named Naruto all sad and crying in your apartment. You really should learn to treat your friends, flatmates or boyfriends better, little brother. I truly fail to understand how you can resist someone with an ass like his. Anyways, I'm taking him out instead, but since he doesn't have a key, I'll bring him back sometime tomorrow when you are awake._

_Enjoy your evening Sasuke,_

_Love Itachi.'_

Sasuke's hand lost strength and he dropped his glass of juice. It splintered into a thousand pieces on the white marble floor, around a wide-eyed trembling Uchiha.

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Naruto is a flaming uke, but a uke no less, don't worry.

Thanks to Guests, Sora, Ylith, Ezkiel, Yana5, KyuuKitsunex3, Rei, xlainex, skyglazingMaro, AchicknamedBob and shia naru! Thanks for your kind words :3

**Sora**: You will slowly know as the chapters go, I will keep adding memories :) I'm glad you love it so far.  
**Rei**: I almost cheated you didn't I? x) Epic start of a new story! Or not. I'm glad you didn't close the page :P And Sasuke indeed has a weakness for Sasuke doesn't he? He just doesn't want to accept it yet. Your reviews always makes me incredibly happy and excited, did you know that? Thanks for being awesome!  
**xlainex**: Favourite? ;0 Awww, I hope you enjoy this chapter too.  
**skygrazingMaro**: A shock that never ends good. It is always so damn awkward to wake up to being humped. I should know...*ignore that*  
**AchicknamedBob**: Wohoo :D You were a great help, so here's a cookie for you. *hands cookie*  
**shia naru**: You got ur wish, its partly Sasuke, in the beginning only though.  
**KyuuKitsunex3**: Welcome onboard, on the possessive Sasuke train. *Gives you ticket*  
**Yana5**: I wrote a comment to your threesome suggestion up in the A/N at the top, naughty girl.  
**Ezkiel**: There will be loads more to come.  
**Ylith**: Don't hate Sasuke, iz loooove.

I don't respond on every chapter since I write so fast but, I do read everything guys, and if you have questions I will answer them, even if it will be on another chapter. I really appreciate the time you spend reviewing.

SNEAK PEAK on Chapter 10: Look up Feilan87 on DeviantART

Drawings by me.

Next chapter as I promised on my profile. Please review and share your thoughts.


	10. Pyrrhic Victory: Part II

**Orenji****  
**_Written by _**F**_e_I**l**_a**n**_

**Preview Summary**:ツ When an Uchiha speaks, you listen. When an Uchiha offers their hand in friendship, you take it. When an Uchiha wants something, they will have it. So why does his foolish blonde dobe of a neighbour refuse him time and time again? The only logical answer - The boy must be crazy. SasuNaru, minor ItaNaru. Slightly homophobic!Sasuke (easier than denial).

**Extended Summary:**  
_  
Prologue_  
Sasuke Uchiha is an eight year old boy, and antisocial loner, living a life of boredom with riches, a better-knowing brother and a father who is never home. One day new neighbours move in next to them and Sasuke decides to make his blonde neighbour his very first friend. However Naruto Uzumaki has something to say about that because he does not want any friends. Angered by his refusal he starts spying on the blonde and he quickly learns that his shy-looking, timid blonde dobe of a neighbour has many secrets to keep. Why does Naruto not go to school? Why is he always so pale? And is his snake-like bankrobber-guardian as evil as he looks or does it have something to do with Naruto's four-legged imaginary friend?

_After the prologue _  
The raven-haired Uchiha is in for more than he can handle, when he despite all odds manages to make friends with his dobe, but it all ends when Naruto mysteriously disappears, and only Sasuke remembers who Naruto is. Eight years later, the latest hot model Sasuke finds himself still thinking of the boy, until one day Naruto reappears. Too bad for Sasuke though, because Naruto has forgotten who he is. What is wrong with Naruto?

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Naruto Universe, or any part thereof.

**Warning**: No beta, heavy longwinded metaphors because the author is one confusing mess. Sasuke displays signs of being a control freak, egoist, narcissist, as well as having obsessive- and a possessive tendencies.  
**  
Overall Warnings**: AU, Controlling!Sasuke, Demon!Naruto, Timeskip, Past lives and thousand year old fox demons. Memory lapses of Naruto's past life in the Ninja-verse. Don't read if you have a short attention span, the story is long and contains underlying plots, so turn around **if you can't handle something different. **

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**A/N: ** At the end of this chapter Itachi wakes up to realize that he knows Naruto. The memory is long but it isn't the whole chapter so don't start throwing rocks already. This document was way over 12k words in the WORD doc. ^^ Things will turn in Sasuke's favour. Pairings for this chapter: Sasuke/Naruto, Ichiro/Naruto and Itachi/?. Plot thickens..decisions, decisions...Some of the upcoming memories will be from different characters since we have followed Naruto for a while now. I know it can get confusing, and I apologise for that. I try to keep all memories in the beginning of the story so people will expect that. I hope everyone enjoys this update, I have a stressed schedule for the next two weeks due to exams, but I squeezed in this EXTRA long chappie for you guys, cheers to all and I wish you a happy weekend.

Ps. 13k words is way too much for me. I'll fix errors as I go, as usual! Damn this is a like a double chapter.

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Glancing up from the palms of his hands, Naruto was only vaguely aware of the road moving under him slowly but surely, out of the corner of his eyes. The forest around the city was not one of the safest places to be especially being out and about alone like he currently was, but he hadn't actually given much thought to where he was going.

Until a year ago, this road between Konohagakure and the surrounding villages had upheld a steady stream of travellers, artisans and traders bringing a wide range of wares and fine luxuries along, then the war had happened and everything remained changed, peace was a temporary illusion yet, and the nobles of Konohas more influential clans were forced to face drastic changes in their luxurious lifestyles.

Knowing every crook and nook of this landscape, this forest, and these mountains, since he was a child, had it advantages and he felt confident in his sense of direction. A whole unexplored world laid out there waiting for him, a world he one day wanted to experience and see with his own eyes when peace had spread. Not the sad destruction that was still weighing heavily on people's minds. Some part of him regretted not staying away after the mission had been carried out.

He had been trapped here all his life, and when his family was still alive, all he saw was the inner walls of the Namikaze household's guarded homes on the north side of the city, or the forest and mountains when his grandmother would take him out searching for medicinal herbs every now and then. Which wasn't that often, the old hag had a clear route that would lead them around just about every possible place the plants could be, so they were always fully packed when they returned.

His grandmother had been specializing in medical ninjutsu and had been the best of the best.

This morning he had visited the sad rubble he had once called home, and he knew, he had let it all go, and with time he would find a new place. Being alone wasn't heart achingly painful anymore, it had been in the beginning, but the Uzumaki's were nice people and he more or less lived half of the year in the guest quarters of the Uchiha compound as an permanent guest of honour, or part of their family.

And now he was trapped here again, in Konoha, by a different chain. One he had forged for himself.

His legs were heavy like they were made of some type of iron, and his feet were begging him to find rest and sit down somewhere, but the restlessness had taken its toll on his body, and his legs were now so stiff that he knew better than to sit down, because then he would never get back up. He had to keep walking. Disorientated and weary he found himself unable to remember how long he had been out here for, it had to be hours.

Something had upset him, but nothing that bastard had to say should have shaken him up like this. It shouldn't because he was over that.

Naruto was a fine mess right about now, trudging through the grassy forest. This morning he had left with his dignity intact, and then he had managed to go through the day with a paint on mask of joy.

But now he couldn't pretend anymore. He opened his mouth wide and screamed his heart out, till there was no air left in him to do so. He screamed again, and again till his throat burned from the ripples of the forceful sound.

This was his sanctum, where no one could see how pathetic he felt. No one hung around the forest in the evening, except for perhaps thieves, but that wasn't a concern of his right now.

"Seriously bastard...when you say something like that don't look so serious-" His voice broke and felt his throat tighten, as his nose burn warning him of the tears that threatened to form. "Are you watching me now, you bastard? Watching me cry from somewhere in that forest? Come out then! I accept so just...just... find me please! If you find me I'll accept your ridiculous offer...I promise..."

It wouldn't surprise him anymore if the man actually had been there, but of course Aoi had better things to do than stalk Naruto constantly. Feeling pathetic and somewhat letdown he let go of the tension that had built. Tension from the pent up emotions he had denied himself to feel. Didn't know whether he wanted to laugh hysterically at the ridiculousness of it all or if he wanted to just sit for himself and bawl his eyes out till they got so red and puffy that he would look like a frog to anyone who saw him. So he did both.

Naruto laughed, and cried. Unable to help himself. The weight of the world had fallen down on his head, and everything just seemed incredibly funny, even that stone-faced Uchiha in his mind, regarding him with a solemn sadness, and telling him to stay away from his brother. Aoi had offered to replace his brother, with that serious face. It wasn't funny, Naruto didn't think it was, but he still laughed, and cried, because inside him a small hope had lightened up at the other's words.

_'I almost believed you were seriously suggesting that I should replace him with you. That you would replace him just to make him take up his duties to your clan and have lots of little babies._' Naruto laughed at his own thought, but it slowly died. Why did Aoi hate him so damn much? What had he ever done to the man to make the raven loathe him so? Another ridiculousness of it all was that Naruto wasn't even hogging Ichiro, he had told the man multiple times to do what was right, and Ichiro had assured him that the time he spent with Naruto was nothing that would get in the way of his position.

_Aoi, you would be with me for the greater good of everyone?_ A sacrifice, for his family, because of his brother, that was what it was, even if his heart was tempted to interpret it differently. Could Aoi love him? Did Naruto still _want_, Aoi to love him? He wanted to negate it. It had been two years and he still saw Aoi in his dreams. Naruto still had those recurring nightmares of the night his life had been ruined, destroyed, smashed to smithereens. But, Aoi had rebuilt his life for him. He didn't want to be thankful to the bastard, but he was. His dreams told him so.

After every nightmare of the massacre, he would end up watching the sky in the field of despair, and then Aoi would be there, just like on that day. Changing Naruto's life. The dream always ended the same way, and all he saw was the blue sky, and the man he had fallen in love with in less than a second. After seeing the dream replayed in his mind to endlessness he had finally been able to decipher the strange look the Uchiha had had on his face the first time their eyes met.

He had thought it was disgust, Naruto had looked far worse than most of the dead around him after all, no doubt, but it wasn't any negative feeling he had felt, it was like a mirror. Aoi had looked at him with surprise, then interest, then confusion, then warmth, then care. Reflecting each feeling that had passed through Naruto's own hazy mind. In his dreams, Aoi had fallen in love in a split second, with Naruto, because Naruto had fallen in love with him. Because they were each other's mirror.

Too bad dreams were exactly that, just dreams. Not a reality.

If it was truly love at first sight, then he hated his heart for picking someone for him that was so cold and detached. Naruto wanted a satisfying tender _love_. He wanted to be the spoiled rotten and be told sweet nothings every day, he was a pathetic romantic deep down, which was also why most women did nothing for him. He wanted to be the centre of his lover's world, something Ichiro partially fulfilled, but Naruto knew that their relationship should have ended already after their first night together.

One night opened doors, that should have remained closed to him. Naruto honestly thought that Ichiro had been the one using him so he had not had any second thoughts about it, but he couldn't have been more wrong about the Uchiha's intentions when he was called back to the man's chambers the next day. And the day after. And the next few weeks. At first he had given in, basking in the loving attention and care he received, he had told himself that it was at most just a type of crush, and that by giving in, Ichiro would soon grow bored of him. Like anyone probably would, and although Naruto didn't usually need quite that much attention or love he had still demanded it, hoping it would somehow irk the other to snap at him. Again, it worked with the reverse result, the man just quietly accepted his requests and loved him no less.

Soon Naruto had gotten used to the state of things, and the reason he had first been attracted to the other slowly faded, he no longer imagined Ichiro to be Aoi, it had quickly become impossible because of how different their personalities were. Aoi would never be with him, he would never treat him kindly or get all selfless and loving with Naruto.

It had been wrong of him to indulge in the pleasures of the flesh when he longed for someone else, and his lover's younger brother no less.

If Aoi was like ice, freezing, sharp, numbing and painfully cold to touch despite its translucent beauty, then his brother was fire, blazing brightly, powerful, warm for everyone. Somehow in his mind, this description sounded wrong though, because Naruto wanted Aoi to also possess a flame in him as well, he was sure there was warmth somewhere in the other, there had to be.

And because he cared so damn much.

Aoi's words stung even more. The Uchiha thought of him as a blemish, a stain dirtying his precious brother. Aoi would rather dirty himself than see Ichiro get used by Naruto. And Naruto somehow, felt lower than low because of it. He wanted Aoi to see him, he did, but not this way. He didn't want to be like that.

The light green grassy patch had ended and coarse bumpy road took its place, along with a new annoyance that was sharp pebbles digging through his sandals. What was at the end of the road, he did not know, but perhaps just perhaps, it was time to find out.

_'-oi!'_

Had he unconsciously been waiting to be found. No, he wasn't that stupid. No one would come to retrieve him, he should just leave. He should just _break_ that chain and disappear for good.  
Because that man wouldn't come looking for him anymore. He wasn't hiding in the bushes up ahead and he certainly wasn't in love with him enough to stalk him here.

_'-Kit.'_

Alas, Naruto was weak. Pathetic and weak in love.

_'Kit...can't...you...me?'_

Living in the comfort and warmth of another was the only thing keeping him afloat. He would get stronger, less dependent on Ichiro eventually, he promised himself that, but... for just a bit longer couldn't he just continue living in the dream, in this beautiful dream. Did he have to wake up? Or could he continue sleeping. Sleeping sounded good actually. The damage was done, so it could not get worse.

"Naruto!"

Should he leave his heart up to fate and believe that things were as they were meant to be. He didn't look up at the person calling him.

It was the wrong Uchiha who had come for him.

"Naruto! Are you alright?!"

He didn't know he could still cry.  
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* * *

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The bonfire burned brightly next to him and the soft grass and earth had become a spongy bed under him. He felt warm again, but his muscles were aching all over and the sweet scent of burning white oak, invaded his nose reminding him of where he was.

Then the clanking sound of wooden footwear, crunching against the pebbles on the stone-strew road nearby caught his attention, but the figure that walked into the faint bonfire light was just Ichiro. Ichiro who was supposed to be enjoying a feast with the emissary from Sound back home, just about now. His heart sank. He had messed up again, Aoi would surely deride him more for distracting Ichiro from his obligations.

It was all Naruto's fault. It was his bad influence that had caused it, just as Aoi had implied.

"You're awake?" Ichiro quickly dumped the twigs and sticks he had gathered, onto the fire and the flames eagerly started licking the slender branches, burning and glowing brightly. The other sat down next to him and placed a cool palm on his forehead. "You're negligent of yourself, you know that? What if someone had attacked you in this weakened state?"

Naruto looked up at the Uchiha and forced a weak smile, but to his surprise the man looked angry. Naruto's head was thumbing excruciatingly beneath the soothing hand of his wound up lover. "I'm alright. How long have I been out?"

Ichiro was no less upset with him, but answered still. "A good seven hours. I couldn't drag you back to the village, so I set up a camp here and-" The other paused."...have you lost your mind, going all the way out here alone, is it my fault you suddenly left?"

"No." The blonde muttered, eyeing the skin sack with water. As if reading his mind, Ichiro quickly loosened it from his belt and held the mouth piece near his dried up lips, whilst placing a hand on the back of his head to lift Naruto up high enough to drink. "Thanks.." The dark-haired man had a pained look as he withdrew his hands to seal the sack.

"Do you know, what you're doing to me?"

_I know_. Naruto thought darkly, as he was starting to get annoyed by Ichiro's scrutiny.

"You shouldn't have come, what about the meeting with that emissary from the Sound?" He braved himself to ask, but if the man's face was anything to go by, the other thought of him as incredibly dense right now. And maybe he was, maybe if he hadn't underestimated his importance, they wouldn't be here.

"I asked Aoi to represent me. It will probably cause an uproar when our Hokage finds out. How do you expect me to calmly sit and feast, whilst talking politics with those old bats when I know you are out here somewhere getting lost, all by yourself? Don't tell me you still don't know." The Clan Head took a shuddering breath, his frustrations with Naruto were clear as day. The blonde knew he had done something troublesome. "I may be theirs, but I'm yours too. I will notice when you are gone, and I will worry."

"You shouldn't be here, there were other ways to find me, I can survive in the wild you know." The blonde chided, he didn't deserve the this man's devotion.

"What if you had gone off a cliff and fallen to your death? I wouldn't know what had happened to you, should I just carry on like nothing could have happened to you and just expect you back whenever? Are you that dense, of course I worry! How can I not when I..I lo-care about you so much." The Uchiha towered over him, and leaned down on the blonde feeling an unsettling anger in him coil in his chest, it was the protective part of him that was angered by how little Naruto seemed to care for his life. "Now you have a fever and all you can do is tell me off for worrying."

"Ichi-" Their foreheads were almost touching.

"Be quiet." The smooth voice had turned husky with a dark, demanding undertone as the other closed the gap between their mouths.

The kiss was nothing like their previous kisses ever were. Ichiro wasn't passionate, nor gentle with him. If one word could describe it, it would be - thirst. Neither with sweetness or love, it was more of a primal need that their bodies craved, a requirement to live, like food and water. Or that was the gist of it. He didn't want to think it, but this kiss was more like he had always imagined, Aoi's to be.

Too soon it broke, and the other's breath ghosted across his wet lips briefly before Naruto lifted himself up, to reattach their lips, and this time, the kiss was deep.

The cold night air had settled in when they had both calmed themselves. They didn't talk, there was no need for that really. All Naruto needed was to feel the reassuring comfort of the warm hand holding his firmly.

Moments came and went, as did the gazes, when one caught the other looking back.

"How often is it that we forget to stop up and just appreciate these small things." Ichiro pondered, making Naruto follow his gaze that now was lifted to the skies above them. Not a single cloud could be seen and the stars were visible today, very clear.

Naruto agreed silently and squeezed the hand in his. "If you look close enough, you can form pictures in the sky."

"Oh, you do that too?" Ichiro chuckled. "Did you find yourself in the sky then?"

Naruto looked confused. "Find myself?"

"Yeah, look there." Pushing the dark strands of hair away from his vision, the Uchiha pointed at a bundle of bright stars that looked like nothing in particular to Naruto at first, but then his eyes followed the pale finger that outlined and image before him.

"That doesn't look one bit like me!" Naruto protested, but the Uchiha just laughed.

"I think it does. "

"It's an animal...are you calling me an animal?" Naruto grumbled but felt happy on the inside for some reason.

"It's not just any animal, it's the most mischievous one." The Uchiha's eyes were once again on his, watching him. "It's the little fox."

_- Memory fragment._

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**Orenji**  
Ch. 10  
- Pyrrhic Victory  
(_Part Two_)

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"Vulpecula?" Naruto repeated, eyebrows furrowed as he looked at the image of the outlined constellation, named - Little fox. It was holding a goose by its throat, with mischievous golden eyes glaring out at him, with and a long fluffy tail trailing behind it. "A fox?"

"I'm not quite sure why, but you made me think of that constellation." Itachi was skimming through the little map of the sky, searching for something. "Here."

Naruto dragged his eyes from the image of the little fox in the northern sky to the finger pointing at a constellation of a bird in the southern sky. "Corvus?"

"Yeah." Itachi said, a faint smile grazed his eloquent features. "Corvus means Raven, or crow if you will. Sasuke would probably take offense if I told him, he reminds me of this one."

Itachi had not told him where they were going so it had been a surprise to find that the man had parked outside a dome-shaped building. Then he learned what the dome-shaped building was called. It was a planetarium. Some sort of solar museum. Naruto had become engrossed in the solar part of the exhibition, museums and such weren't really his things but he couldn't remember ever visiting a planetarium before so it was a nice change of scenery.

"Sasuke_ is_ actually like a crow." Naruto sniggered to himself, suddenly feeling the urge to share his discovery with Sasuke, but he had almost forgotten that his _Raven_ roomie didn't want anything to do with him. Naruto would have liked Sasuke to be here too. The blonde's grin slipped, not unnoticed by the older brother.

"Naruto-kun."

Itachi was no longer paying attention to the exhibition, but rather the blonde boy who turned to face him expectantly. "Yes?"

"We better get going. We have a reservation for nine, and you are getting hungry, aren't you?"

"Dinner? Nice!" Naruto had started drooling already, thinking of all the possibilities. "Mm...There's only five minutes till nine, can we get there on time?"

Itachi laughed. "It is upstairs. This place has a nice restaurant constructed like a dome. It is quite renowned for its delicacies as well, so I doubt you will be disappointed."

"Like that weird room we were sitting in earlier, when that guide showed us the constellations on that round ceiling?"

Itachi gave him an affirmative nod. Naruto fiddled with sleeves of the black-blue blazer, trying to fold them, but he was failing miserably, till Itachi took hold of his hand.

"Let me help you with that."

Like a true expert, Itachi neatly folded the sleeves far enough up so Naruto's lower arms were freed and the blue fabric on the inside was more exposed. "You look exquisite in blue." Naruto had to look away. The intensity of the gaze was too much, and he felt a strange guilt when Sasuke's brother looked at him like that.

"Thanks." He tried to fight off the blush. People had started watching the two of them with an interest Naruto didn't care for, in fact it made him slightly paranoid. Did he look funny, or did someone who wasn't supposed to recognise him watch him from afar? It made him nervous.

Now feeling uncertain with how he looked, all dressed up, he cursed himself for not having actually taken the time back at Sasuke's to look himself over, he had been in such a rush to just get out that he would wear anything. Itachi had complimented him, but Itachi was too nice to be honest.

"No problem." Itachi gave him a knowing smile. "Now, tell me what you like to eat."

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After dinner, he had excused himself and finally stalked off to the bathroom. Naruto stared at himself in the mirror, not completely sure he knew the boy staring back at him. Clothes made the man, or in this case, clothes had made Naruto - made him look like a better version of himself.

The clothes Itachi had given him to wear were indisputably all of really high quality materials, so it wasn't startling to find that the blazer could be turned on its inside, replacing the plain black outside of jacket with a more showy outer appearance. It was a dark cobalt blue fabric with a white pattern trailing down from his left shoulder and down the sleeve, towards his left hand. The jeans as well were fitted for Sasuke so the legs were a big longer but as he Itachi had warned him, they were a bit tighter around his waist line.

Naruto who had found a bit of pride in his strong legs now felt uncomfortable with the way the tight clothes exposed his hips and thighs. The pants that had just looked like a regular pair of black jeans from his perspective were slim - no wonder they had felt a bit tight not just around his waist - but in the legs as well. The shoes stood out with the light-coloured leather, polished and shinning, and the tongue of the loafers looked longer than it had to be, the flap was covering the ends of the blue-black jeans in an exaggerated way. He gingerly tugged the flashy flaps in under the hem of the legs.

His stomach had hurt a bit from bending down. "Damn, I ate too much." Naruto groaned, gripping onto the almost nonexistent flap of fat on his stomach. He had a hard time accepting that Sasuke was, a tiny bit more, slender than him. Naruto suddenly felt his competitive streak poke out its ugly head and had to promise himself to start jogging again to feel better about himself. "And drank too much..." The wine had started to make him a bit lightheaded.

He tugged at the dark-grey shirt, it was sleeveless V neck made of an odd fabric that had felt cool against his chest most of the evening but the fabric hung loose and stretched only a little, although not leather, it felt like some second skin and had a leathery shine to it. Naruto glared at the fancy man in the mirror, who glared back at him, then he broke into a smile and watched his reflection do the same. That strange guy in the mirror was still him, and no clothes could change that. Feeling a tiny bit more confident with his appearance he quickly washed his hands again and strewed a lazy hand through his ruffled blonde hair a last time before leaving the bathroom, and gliding across the floor with a newfound rhythm to his posture that the sweet wine had allowed him to show.

Outside in the restaurant, he found the table where Itachi had been empty, and quickly glanced around assessing the room confident enough to ignore the peaking eyes from the men and women who had made him become so self-conscious in the first place. Giving up his search he sat down, praying that Itachi hadn't left him here. He wouldn't do that would he?

Feeling strangely alone, he called upon his friend. _'Kura...are you awake?_' The fox had been sleeping inside him most of the day for some reason and it unnerved Naruto a bit. _'Stupid fox, don't leave me alone!'  
_  
After a minute of silently sipping the rest of his Claret wine and desperately trying to come in contact with his infuriating soul-friend, someone tapped his shoulder. "Excuse me."

Naruto looked up at a man no older than himself, with a more fiery tint of red hair rivalling Kurama's carrot-y red. The thick black eyeliner framed a set mint green eyes, and the man's lips were stiff, not smiling, nor scowling, and that was the only reason he didn't feel slightly intimidated by the other. "Yes?"

The blonde almost yelped in surprise when a familiar voice spoke to him forebodingly. '-_Get away-kit.._' Kurama's voice faded into nothingness as if something had intervened with their signal. Naruto thought nothing of it at the time being, as the redhead started to speak.

You-"

"He is with me." Itachi interrupted the stranger as he quickly dove past the red-haired man and placed an arm on Naruto's shoulder in an effort to send a clue. The redhead's pale green eyes narrowed into a glare, but then nodded after a pregnant pause of ten whole seconds, before walking away.

"Sorry about that, Naruto-kun." Itachi said apologetically, and then clarified as he sat down. "An old friend of mine called and I had to step outside for a bit."

"Oh, I see. Don't apologise, I just got back a minute ago as well." Naruto smiled, feeling relieved he hadn't been abandoned. Itachi's eyebrow rose a bit, then a sombreness flickered through his eyes and disappeared as fast as it had come.

"That man." Itachi began, hesitating for a second as he eyed a table somewhere behind Naruto. "Did he do something to you?"

"Do something?" Naruto looked puzzled.

Giving him a wary look, the Uchiha made himself clear eyes blazing with something akin to irritation, but not towards Naruto. "Did he hit on you?"

"W-what? He didn't hit on me.." Naruto stammered, feeling his temperature rise in embarrassment. "People often come up and talk to me, but only a few blatantly hits on me..." Naruto trailed off.

"This happens often, does it?" Itachi looked like he was about to sigh but held back. "You should be careful, there are many pushy people out there, you need to always be on your guard. Because that man who just sought you out is from the Sabaku family. Pardon me but can I be frank with you?"

"Yeah, sure..," Naruto said, feeling a bit... off.

The older male straightened his back as if trying to get comfortable, but Naruto couldn't imagine sitting with his back so stiff all day could be good at all. "Are you, in that sort of relationship with my brother?"

A deep blush crept over his cheeks as Itachi assessed his physical response. "Sasuke isn't gay, but I..I am. I mean I've liked a few girls too but-"

Onyx eyes narrowed and pale pink lips pulled upwards in an amused smirk. "So, I'm to understand that Sasuke has no feelings other than friendship for you?"

"Yeah. Sasuke probably doesn't even see me as a friend. Rather a... stranger." Naruto finished lamely, entwining his fingers underneath the table, clenching as a small outlet of for his nerves.

Itachi's smirk had widened, and he briefly turned to wave towards the waiter asking for a receipt. As the other dug down into his pocked looking for his wallet, he also pulled out his phone, where the screen was still lightened up from a good thirty-two missed calls, all missed and ignored. "It's just a friend of mine, who is a bit drunk right now." The Uchiha quickly said answering the blonde's questioning look.

"Then you should go and help him out!" Naruto said sternly. "What if someone hits on him whilst he is vulnerable? You've got to help your friend."

Itachi blinked in surprise, before breaking out in a quiet laughter. "He is capable of handling himself quite well I assure you, in fact I would feel more worried about whoever dares to hit on him."

"I can defend myself as well." Naruto pouted, earning a pointy look.

"Is that so?" Itachi yet again assumed an expression of pure entertainment. The waiter came to their table and Itachi paid for their meals. "How about we visit another friend of mine then? He works at one of the clubs down the street."

The blonde's eyebrows shot up, pout abandoned. "But I'm only 17, they won't let me in."

"Ah, that won't matter, I'll watch over you. You'll get in just wait and see."

Naruto, looked thoughtful for a moment, he wanted to go, to go with Itachi because for someone having thought of Itachi for so long, he knew almost nothing about the man he was now. Itachi was no longer that thirteen year old boy, with the kind smile who always doted on Sasuke, he had caught onto the troubled tension there seemed to be between the brother, and couldn't help but how that discord between Itachi and Sasuke had come to be.

What sort of friends did Sasuke's older brother keep. While Itachi seemed decent enough in a one on one situation and still as kind as Naruto remembered him to be, he felt an ominous feeling about it all.

Itachi had gotten up, holding an outstretched hand towards Naruto, appearing more frighteningly intense than ever. Part of Naruto felt a thrill from the way Itachi watched him with quiet amusement, and another part of him felt like some sort of magnetic pull was willing him to put his hand in Itachi's, to relish in the touch of energy that would tingle so deliciously in his body, when their skin met.

Unable to resist the pull, he let the other help him up from the chair with a fluid movement that held enough strength behind it to make him stumble into Itachi's solid chest. "Stay close to me, people are watching." Naruto blushed profusely at the arm, snaking itself around his back and wrapping itself around his shoulder, pushing him to walk along with the domineering Uchiha - so close to him.

Normally Naruto would have pushed away, or objected to the display of intimacy but he felt powerless to do so, something about the other compelled him to lean into the touch - and it scared him a little how right it felt. He couldn't help but think, that Itachi seemed different than he remembered. Rarely did he feel any kind of excitement as he did now, so why did he keep thinking of Sasuke who was locked up in his room at home?

Gasping from the shock of cold air out of the street, Naruto wrapped Sasuke's jacket tighter around him, trying to keep away the cold breeze from his front - Itachi's arm kept his back warm.

"We're going this way." Itachi announced, as he made a sharp turn down an alleyway. Naruto felt his senses scream at him in warning. A murky alley way, dark, wet and with no lamps in sight - should have been a definite warning sign, but then he saw the door. It was a backdoor entrance to a club, and he exhaled noisily.

"What? Did you think I was leading you down some abandoned alley to molest you behind a trash container?" The Uchiha laughed heartily, making Naruto feel incredibly dumb for a moment.

"N-no. Of course not!" Naruto blurted out, glad that it was too dark for the other to see his face. "I was just feeling, cold.."

"Hm, I see." Itachi said tonelessly, appearing almost a little disappointed. "When we get in, don't make eye contact with strangers, don't smile at anyone and make sure to keep your eyes only on me."

It took Naruto a few seconds to realise that the composed man had been joking. "H-huh. What? Stop making fun of me!"

Itachi just shook his head, and shot a rare brilliant smile at him as he opened the heavy metal door with ease like it was made of cardboard. Grudgingly Naruto entered first, and felt his arm stiffen when Itachi's arm draped itself on his shoulder again. The hallway was dark and appeared to be empty at first, but the dark figures blending against the wall on his side made him retract that assumption. The buzzing in the floor became more apparent when his feet picked up on the booming vibration from a bass in the distance.

"Don't look so nervous, Naruto-kun." Itachi gave his shoulder a last squeeze and released the hold, as coloured lights blinded them, behind the closed door. His ears thumbed with the shock of the sudden increase in volume that a single door had blocked. It was almost unbelievable how loud it was. Itachi was looking at him and saying something, but Naruto could no longer make out a single word so he just nodded and hoped that was the right answer.

In the club, all tables and corners were filled up with a crowd of young people. Some laughing hysterically whilst pushing each other around teasingly, some drinking a line-up of a good twenty shots to beat the guy next to them, some crying and yelling into their cell phone feeling the need to exclaim how much fun they were having - without the _bastard_ in the phone -, and _some_ rubbing against each other with little thought to the consequences that their heavy display of PDA could bombard them with tomorrow. Naruto frowned a bit at the distaste in his mouth. The blonde could have sworn that some of them looked younger than him. So much for age regulations here, he thought to himself. The air was heavy and murky in his lungs with the sweetness of liquor mixed with a good few hundred different scents bombarding his sensitive nose all at once.

Itachi saw his discomfort and pointed in the direction of a more quiet corner. A tall figure was waving and mouthing words at them some place behind the first bar, ahead of them.

"Itachi! Itachi over here! Over here! Why didn't you tell us you'd be coming?" A tall almost blue-skinned guy, who in Naruto's eyes resembled a shark, with his small eyes and sharp teeth came up to them with a wide grin as he saw the blonde next to his friend. "You've found yourself a new boyfriend already? Someone is going to be crushed by this news." The shark guy wiggled his eyebrows and burst out laughing.

Itachi remained stoic and calmly greeted his friend, without denying the other's words which left Naruto feeling confused. The man held out a hand in greeting and studied him. "The name is Kisame! Better give me your name before I dub you, Itachi's lover number xxxx."

Naruto scowled, feeling a bit hurt at that comment but bit back the annoyance as he shook Kisame's hand. "I'm Naruto, and I'm not Itachi's boyfriend, just a friend."

"Really?! Oh man, Itachi is losing his touch." Kisame pointed at Itachi with a mocking finger, before turning back to him with a glint in his small eyes. "Naruto-kun, we can find you a cute girl if you want! But first, let's go greet the others."

"I think you have babbled enough already, Kisame. Naruto-kun is a friend of Sasuke's." Itachi said and followed his friend, signalling for Naruto to come along, which he did hesitantly. The blonde still wondered what mess he had gotten himself into by coming here, but found that he didn't particularly care at the moment. He was more interested in the conversation between the two bickering friends. Itachi untouched by Kisame's words, and Kisame trying to take little teasing stabs at the now stoic Uchiha. Itachi had been more animated earlier, not he seemed stoic and aloof in the presence of his friend, but Naruto could tell, Itachi was comfortable and enjoying himself despite the newly discovered mask of indifference.

"Oh, how is your little brother doing? Karin has been asking about him a lot lately, think she's crushing pretty hard." Kisame gushed on as they reached a private area with cushioned sofa-like corners, in bright red and black leather. "So I told her to talk to you about Sasuke, but you two don't spend much time together anymore do you?"

"Sasuke is gay." Itachi announced quietly, successfully switching subject. Naruto blinked and sped up to keep up with the two bigger men. Why was Itachi calling Sasuke gay, hadn't Naruto just told him earlier that he wasn't. Had Sasuke been lying and hiding his sexual orientation after all?

"Say WHAT?! I knew he was asexual as hell, but he hasn't shown any interest in men...Are you sure?" Kisame grumbled in disbelief and stopped up at the sofa corner, where two others were seated.

"I'd say it's a ninety-nine percent probability." Was Itachi's reply.

"Sasuke is gay? When? Where? Who turned him?" A new voice joined in. Naruto peeked out from behind Itachi and saw another good-looking man with medium length, silver hair, slicked back accentuating his piercing amethyst eyes. Did all of Itachi's friends have to be so, distinctive looking?

"Listen up guys, this is Naruto-kun, my little brother's precious friend." Itachi turned to him pressing a hand against back to force him out of his hiding. Naruto was overwhelmed by the new impressions and was vaguely aware of his flaming cheeks, as two new pairs of eyes fixed on him. "Naruto-kun, this slick freak is Hidan and that is his partner Kakuzu. Although they don't look it, they are both researchers and working together in our testing labs. I'm sure you are aware of Sasuke's background and link with Uchiha Corp. Well either way, the newly opened branch I created is a medical facility for testing new medicine - they work for me."

The silver haired man was Hidan and the tanned guy next to him looked tall enough to almost rival Kisame's height. Kakuzu's green eyes were giving him fierce look, beneath unruly bangs of medium length dark brown hair, bordering black. From each corner of his mouth stitches ran across his chiselled face. They were tattoos. Weren't they?

"Hello everyone." Naruto forced his voice out, to sound clear and strong, as he greeted the odd bunch with a smile, all the while hating himself for sounding so timid, this wasn't like him at all, he had never had problems socializing. He became painfully aware of how out of place he was in this little group. Hidan broke into a grin an uncharacteristic grin.

"Don't be scared, Naru-chan. You can sit here with me." Hidan chuckled and patted the empty spot next to him. "Kakuzu just thinks you look cute. Don't you, Kaku? Geez, stop glaring Kakuzu!" The man glared at his partner. "Tch...Don't mind this idiot, he is just reserved."

Naruto choked down a chuckle, he had calmed quite a bit, perhaps these people weren't so bad. The Hidan guy seemed friendly enough, and his, partner or lover at least had the decency to look away now. Taking the invitation to sit down, he made to take a seat but was stopped by Itachi's arm, wrapping around his middle and pulling him to the other side. "Itachi?"

"You'd better sit with me, remember what I told you outside?" The Uchiha gave him a warning glance and took the seat next to Hidan to separate Naruto from his pesky silver-haired friend. Naruto rose an eyebrow and thought for a moment. Then blushed, was Itachi serious?

"What? Itachi what is up with you hogging him to yourself, he isn't even your boyfriend." Hidan poked the stoic man, with a huff of anger.

"Hidan, Naruto is Itachi's friend so no wandering hands please. Go find your own friends." Kisame broke in laughing, as Hidan sat back with a sneer. Naruto wondered what they meant by friends, it sounded more like they were talking about sex buddies.

"I wasn't going to..." Deciding that the battle was lost Hidan moved onto the next subject of interest. "So what is this about Sasuke? Has he gotten out of the closet?"

"I wouldn't say he is out of the closet, unfortunately. " Itachi said thoughtfully, whilst pouring himself a glass of some faint blue-ish liquid from the pitcher, handing it to Naruto who was tentative to accept it. "Have a drink, Naruto-kun."

Naruto took the glass and smelled the contents of the glass warily. "Blackberry...Is this juice?"

"Sharp one, isn't he?" Kisame remarked and took a sip of his own drink. "It's harmless, so drink up!"

"Is there a lot of alcohol in this?" Naruto scowled at Kisame, now comfortable enough to face the strangers on equal footing.

Itachi and Kisame exchanged gazes. "No, it's 100% pure juice with fruit bits in it." Naruto quirked an eyebrow, giving the shark guy a testing look."Ok Ok! Mr. suspicious, so there is a bit, but it's really nothing that's going to knock you out under the table." Kisame assured him with a sharky smile. "If you finish the first glass fast it will taste better, what are you waiting for, go on!"

Still feeling a bit doubtful, Naruto glanced at the glass' contents one more time. He was actually thirsty, and the wine earlier hadn't affected him much. He downed the glass' contents fast, and squeezed his eyes shut a second or two before gasping, the burning sensation on his throat had served to vitalize him a bit. It didn't taste all bad.

"There's fizz in this?" Naruto inquired as an afterthought, licking his lips.

"Uh, yeah." Kisame smiled guiltily, but Naruto was already thirsting and craving more. "You want some more? Here, give me your class."

Naruto wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and handed his glass over. A moment later he was sipping his second glass of Vita juice, as he had decided to call it, it was like an oral orgasm in my mouth, that exquisite sweetness of fruit with just the right amount of acidity made the mixture no less than exhilarating for his whole body. He was starting to feel a bit hot, despite how cold the drink was.

"Ho, he can drink a lot."

"So Naru-chan, how long have you been living with Sasuke?"

Naruto wasn't quite sure who had asked, but answered nonetheless. "...yesterday." His voice slurred.

"One day?" Itachi asked, taking his glass and putting it on the table. Naruto wanted to pout, because he wanted more, but perhaps it was for the best, he felt a bit lightheaded and dizzy, but it had only been two glasses.

"One day is enough to do things!"

"Still thirsty?" A voice asked, he thought it was Kisame again, but he could be Hidan as well, ouch. Thinking didn't feel good. The colourful world had started spinning before him. A cool hand rested on his forehead, it was comfortable. Itachi was touching him, he smiled and let his eyes flutter closed for a moment and the headache seemed to fade, but then the hand was taken away.

"Give him some water." Itachi said, his voice seemed worried to Naruto, but he couldn't really focus enough to tell. "Water I said." He could easily recognise Itachi's voice though, whenever the other spoke he felt it on his body, almost as if he was resting against Itachi's chest. Was he sitting on Itachi's lap?

"Don't sound so worried, he is just a bit tipsy. You never usually care about what happens to them anyways."

When was it again, that he had he closed his eyes? He didn't remember.

Naruto opened them and tried to adjust himself to the hazy surroundings but the blur just made his head ache. He felt Itachi reposition him, and he immediately felt more cosy and secure. Leaning on Itachi's chest felt really good.

"Naruto, I have some water here, drink it. It will make you feel better." The husky voice said somewhere close to his ear, but he didn't feel like drinking anything right now. The edge of the glass was pressed to his lips but only a drop or two went in. The edge came back to try to force a bit more down, but he tightened his lips annoyed at the forceful gesture.

"He doesn't want it..."

"Be quiet." Itachi's voice said then there was a pause, before he heard the glass slam down on the table. A hand grabbed his jaw and the next thing he felt was the wet lips pressed against his, gently coaxing him to open his mouth. So he did, with a surprising nonchalance and water spilled into his mouth, washing away the remnants of sweetness. He choked a bit but the assaulting lips stayed locked on his, forcing him to swallow, every last drop and lingering just a second longer before pulling away.

Naruto mewled and slouched against the chest, letting the water work its wonders.

"Ne, Itachi check your phone. Somebody has been calling me and Hidan repeatedly for the past hour or so." The voice sounded anxious. " ...You didn't kidnap this kid, did you?"

"-I did not. I merely borrowed him as a replacement for Sasuke."

"-You must have really pissed Sasuke off to have him calling you at 2 am." The voice continued. "Damn, and I thought your lover was crazy, calling you all day, but Sasuke called you 67 times, in one hour, how is that even possible..."

"-Of course he is pissed."

"-Itachi you're evil, doing this to your brother."

"-You said he was gay...does that mean, Naruto-kun is...Sasuke's?"

"-Sasuke would deny it."

"-he stopped calling..."

The incorporeal voices quietened down, and in the distance footsteps drew closer, noticeable footsteps that even the faint buzz of music couldn't hide.

"Good evening little brother."

.

* * *

"-CRAZY BASTARD!"

Naruto stirred at the sudden incredibly loud addition to the already indecipherable group of chattering people around him. They were so loud, why were they yelling, and why was someone shaking him so roughly, treating him like a ragdoll? The shaking turned into pulling, and his right arm was pulled in one direction whilst the other was kept in place by a different entity. He whimpered, not particularly enjoying the fact that he had become a piece in this war of tug-and-pull. So he pushed the arm holding him down and keeping him in place since it hurt more, and therefore gave the other an unfair advantage, and before he knew it, he was somewhere hard and cold.

He heard disembodied voices around him, shouting with anger and fury. Shouting Naruto's name. Someone who had not been here before had come. He was big, dark and angry and had black hair with angry spikes, like a crow. His face looked angry too, and his body language was definitely angry because his arms were doing angry movements and gestures. Was it that angry person, the one who had pulled him before? Was that why the surface under him was no longer warm and fleshy but hard and cold like a floor? Why was Naruto on the floor? Did the angry man hate him?

In the sparse moments of clarity his clouded mind experienced, he had tried to crack an eye open, but everything was so bright and the images before him moved very fast. The angry man was pointing at him whilst shouting obscenities at a group of people. Naruto wished the loud noises would just stop existing, they made his head hurt.

"-told you to stay out of my life-!"

Naruto tried to sit up so he could tell these annoying mofos to keep it down, but he only managed to wriggle a foot, and no one noticed that.

"-isn't your boyfriend, then-"

"It is none of your damn business! Just keep your flirtatious ways_ far_ away from my friends!"

"So he is just your friend? Aren't you being a bit overprotective, overreacting like this..."

"Naruto is drunk and rolling around on the goddamn floor and you think I'm overreacting?!"

"Sasuke just go home, I will take Naruto-kun back to my spare flat-"

Naruto's ears perked. Sasuke? Had he heard that right, was Sasuke here? Had Sasuke come for him? To take him home? Naruto hoped he had, he really wanted to get off of this cold floor.

"THE HELL YOU WILL!-"

"S...suke." The blonde slurred. "I..want...Sasuke." It had sounded better in his mind, he really just wanted to ask Sasuke to take him home, but what the hell, his point must have come across.

The angry man had stopped talking and so had the other. Had Naruto said something wrong? Why was it so quiet? He was faintly aware of all the eyes being on him. And then the still-picture broke and the man with angry black spiky hair walked over to him and put his nimble hand around his neck and shoulders to raise him up, simultaneously as the other arm dug in under his legs. Sasuke was lifting him up from the floor. "I'm here stupid dobe. Let's go home."

"Mm." Naruto wanted to mutter a response but it became a silly noise instead. Had Sasuke always smelt this good, or been quite this strong? Naruto didn't know why he was thinking about this, but Sasuke was stronger and more dependable than he looked.

.

* * *

As he pushed the key into the door, and turned it with a flick of his hand, he stopped up to listen.

It was faint but there was a creak coming from his entrance hallway. Slowly letting go of the sigh he had been holding back, he pushed the door open and reached inside to flip on the lights. When the intruder didn't seem to be willing to cause a drama with a still open front door, Itachi finally entered and closed the door securely behind him.

"Where_ were_ you."

The longhaired blonde fumed, not bothering to tie the finely tailored silk, dressing gown he had borrowed from Itachi's wardrobe - underneath he was wearing nothing, just raw naked, and unashamed.

"Out and about." Was his dry answer, sometimes he didn't know why he even bothered putting up with the situation as it was, Itachi had never been very accepting of clingy lovers with clingy needs. This fling in particular had stuck around for longer than most.

"I called Sasori since you didn't pick up." The other stated, whilst Itachi rolled his sore shoulders a few times and eased the jacket off. He then proceeded to find himself a coat hanger from the built-in closet.

Not responding eventually let the other to continue his story. "He said, Hidan had seen you with a new guy."

Itachi turned to face the blonde, and gently lifted a hand to trace a blonde lock of hair. It was crusty, damaged and oily between his fingers and the blonde colour that he had so often praised the man for, now looked dull and fake to him. "Are you bleaching your hair, Deidara?"

Thrown off by the sudden change of subject, the blonde man blinked in surprise before glaring at him. "So what if I am?"

"I'd like you to leave." The stoic Uchiha said with empty eyes, as he dropped the lock of dead hair with distaste. The half-naked man stood frozen in shock and disbelief.

"I-I'm sorry. Please.."

"I know you are." Itachi interrupted him as he grabbed the other's shoulder and pushed him back against the wall, next to the door, which he opened. "But I am not." And with that he shoved the intruder out of his flat - dressed in nothing but a silk gown.

"Itachi! Please!" The bewildered man tried to cover himself.

Itachi sent him a cold gaze. It was final. "Don't come back here anymore."

The door was slammed shut, and locked.

.

* * *

.

"Sasuke...I like you." Naruto crooned and clung to the younger Uchiha's legs, as the other closed and locked their front door. "I really reeeeeaaally like you."

Sasuke smirked despite himself, feeling bizarrely happy even though he knew that Naruto was just acting weird and adoring - saying all this stupid shit, because he was drunk. The blonde had been acting all funny on the way home, it was quite an entertaining sight to see a big boy like Naruto getting all sappy and sweet with the aid of intoxication. "Sasukeee, I'm glad you are heere- _hiccup_ - with me."

"Dobe, enough already, get up. I saw you walk from the taxi, you aren't fooling no one." Sasuke said and tried to wriggle his leg free, but Naruto held onto him like a leech. Sasuke watched with amazement as Naruto let himself get dragged across the living room floor all the way to Sasuke's room. Now Sasuke had enough though and his leg was starting to fall asleep from the strong arms that weakened the blood circulation to his right leg. "Go sleep, you're drunk."

"My head hurts Sasuke...I can't sleep." The overgrown child said, and for a moment Sasuke really saw the child Naruto had once been. Softened by this, his frown faded.

"If you let go of my leg I'll get you a glass of water and some painkillers." Sasuke offered drily, not willing to compromise further.

"Okay!" Naruto grinned sheepishly, swaying a bit in his sitting position on the floor as he released the iron-grip he had on Sasuke's leg. It was easy to see that Naruto would remain tipsy for a good while longer.

Sasuke muttered something under his breath and stalked off towards the kitchen to find some painkillers and a cooled bottle of water for his whiny, blonde dobe of a roommate.

When he got back to the door to his room where he had left Naruto sagged against a wall, the blonde was no longer there. "Sasuke! I'm in here." Naruto called from within his room. Sasuke groaned and found Naruto draped across his king sized bed, watching him with deep blue eyes at half-mast.

"Get off my bed, Naruto." Sasuke demanded coldly, as the other's behaviour starting gritting on his nerves. Still reminded of his bad experiences from yesterday morning, he was steadfast enough to not let any such episode repeat itself. After finally accepting that they had both acted inappropriately in the light of the situation, Sasuke had decided to pretend it hadn't happened, since that seemed to be Naruto's way of handling things.

"Don't wanna..." The blonde looked like he was about to say something else, but Sasuke promptly held out the bottle and medicine.

"Take these and drink up." Sasuke eyed his bed wearily, as Naruto swallowed the medicine and chugged down a some swigs of water and before releasing the bottle he had now sucked half empty of not just water but also air. The plastic bottle made a crunching sound as Naruto pulled his puckered lips off of the mouthpiece. Sasuke didn't know he had been staring.

"Puuaaahh... I already feel a lot better." Naruto finally rolled off of Sasuke's bed and put the bottle on the nightstand, before he started to pull the uncomfortable clothes off of his body.

Sasuke wasn't a prude or nothing, but had Naruto lost it or was he really undressing in Sasuke's room, throwing his dirty clothes all over his clean floor? The Uchiha frowned. "What the hell are you doing, dobe?!"

The t-shirt was discarded. And Sasuke found himself ogling the discarded clothing article on his floor instead of the bare-chested boy.

"Undressing." Was the curt reply

Resisting the urge to giving a sarcastic remark, Sasuke had to stop himself, since it could lead to further conversation and right now all he wanted was for Naruto to stop talking. "Take it outside then, undress in the living room for all I care, just get out." Sasuke bit out, he had an idea that Naruto was just doing this to pull his leg now. Was the dobe purposely trying to be annoying? It would seem so.

Naruto watched him for a second -but stopped tugging at his pants nonetheless -, and already seemed much more sober than a few minutes ago. "Sasuke, let me sleep here with you."

To make a point, he went to hold the door open for the blonde. "No, out, _now_."

"Please?" Naruto looked a tiny bit desperate. "I promise I will stay on one side of the bed - besides your bed is three times as big as mine, you won't even notice I'm there!"

Sighing Sasuke grumbled. "Naruto-...Go back to your room, I mean it."

"I can't sleep alone Sasuke. Please!" Naruto begged, but Sasuke remained inexpressive, except the rolling of his eyes. "What if I need to puke and I choke myself to death...or..or if-"

"Do you think you are being funny?"

"Oh come on! Why can't I sleep here? I missed you a lot today stupid teme. We are friends aren't we? This could be some sorta, sleepover-"

'_Friends_?' Sasuke snorted, he wasn't sure they could be that, but decided it was a subject he would rather not tread on so soon. "It is already considered a sleepover, your room is only three doors away. Now go, and take your clothes with you, I'm tired and I want to sleep so don't keep pestering me or I'll-." Sasuke snapped.

Naruto looked at him hard now, with an intensity Sasuke wouldn't have believed possible. Naruto's eyes were deep, always deep like the sea, but they were oftentimes soft, bright and sympathetic of a world that didn't deserve it, just like Naruto, but never this intense. "Sasuke, why did you come to pick me up?"

Sasuke gave him an exasperated look, when Naruto showed no intention to leave his room, visibly not in the mood for any mushy conversations. "What else could I have done?" The teen dropped down in a nearby chair, exhausted and burnt out from the stress the blonde would never know he had been the cause of. To his surprise Sasuke wasn't done. "You seem to have a misguided picture of my brother, god knows why you remember that bastard and not me..."

Naruto wanted to ask what Sasuke meant by a misguided picture but cringed a bit feeling guilty, he had tried to remember Sasuke, but it was still too blurry for Naruto. "You are the only one who remembers me Sasuke- even if I don't quite remember you, I still think you're gold. Coming to get me home and all."

Sasuke laughed bitterly. "You know what the funny thing is? If I hadn't saved your ass, it would be hurting tomorrow. I really advise you to stay clear of Itachi if you can, my brother has multiple lovers, he would never settle for one."

"I got a general idea, when that shark guy threatened to dub me 'Itachi's lover number xxxx.'" Naruto admitted, scratching his head, glad that the pills had finally started to kick in. "So, are you okay now?"

"With what?" Sasuke asked suspiciously, knowing full well that 'shark guy' had to be Kisame Hoshigaki, a long-time friend of his brother, and perhaps the only man to stay by his brother's side through thick and thin.

The blonde hesitated and chewed his lip a bit. "You know, with me being gay and all, no offense but you seemed a bit homophobic to me."

"I'm not a homophobe as long you gay people keep- whatever you are doing far away from me. I simply want no part of it."

Naruto's blue eyes, looked a bit like moving water, but Sasuke paid no mind to it. "Goodnight Sasuke, and... thanks." With that a dejected looking blonde grabbed the t-shirt on the floor, swung it over his shoulder and left, closing the door softly behind his tan back with a low click.

Sasuke gazed at the door a whole minute, unable to understand the sudden heaviness in his chest. It was discomforting...and unsettling. Brushing it off as being the consequences of yet another stressful evening, Sasuke started to undress putting his clothes in a neatly wrapped bundle. Finally stripped down to just his underwear he turned off the light and crawled into bed.

It took no time for sleep to take hold of him - Naruto's scent clung to his covers.

.

* * *

.

Red eyes flashed and darkness filled his world.

Lost in an endless delirium of pain he awoke to find himself sweating, overheated and strangely cold at the same time. He felt like he had been laying on his deathbed for weeks struggling to stay alive. None of it made sense, he wasn't sick was he?

His eyes were closed and he wanted so desperately to open and see, but they hurt too much. Itachi could hear them, the voices in his room the voices deciding his fate for him. A fate he had no say in. Was it a demon and an angel? One wanted to kill him, and the other wanted to save him, he was sure of that now.

'_Naruto_' Itachi fidgeted upon hearing the name of his brother's friend, the voice that had spoken was deep and low like a growl of a beast. Something was happening around him, but he couldn't see or understand what was going on.

'_Don't touch him!_' The Uchiha felt a sense of calm wash over him as a soft weight covered his sweaty body chasing away the sharpness of the pain. A smaller body hugged him protectively, but Itachi couldn't reach up to hug back, even if he wanted to calm the trembling child called Naruto. Were they the same? The Naruto Itachi knew was not this young and small.

_'This pathetic human must die! You don't understand whatever feelings you have are nothing but a childish crush! You can't love this human, you don't know what love is!_' Did Naruto love someone, or did the beast think Naruto was in love with him?

'_If you let me do this, I'll do anything you want me to!'_ Naruto was begging the beast to leave him alone. He wanted to save Itachi.

'_Anything_?' The beast sneered, interest piqued.

'_I don't love him...I really don't love him, but...if I don't save him when I have the chance to, I'll forever regret it. Please respect my feelings_.' Itachi felt an aching sensation in his chest, but it wasn't the sickness, it was something else.

'_Do it fast. Once you are done, you will black out, and I will take you home_."

Itachi wanted to wake up, to sit up and fend the beast who was bossing Naruto around, off. Where was the beast taking Naruto? Why would Naruto black out, was he wounded? He was surprised to find small hands stroking his cheeks so gently. He could smell Naruto, pulling closer to him, breathing softly on his face, and kissing him.

The pain and ache that had previously stopped him from moving slowly subsided as Naruto moved his small lips against his, kissing him, taking the hurt away, giving him energy to fight off the disease. He felt his throat constrict a bit as something incredibly warm glided down his throat, did Naruto really taste this good?

Itachi felt himself returning the kiss, but Naruto had gone still, like life had drained from him. The boy's body sagged against his chest as if he had fainted, and his lips had already stopped moving. Itachi panicked trying to move to help Naruto. He couldn't let this beast take Naruto away, not after what he had just done.

His fingers twitched, but he could only scream inwardly in anger and frustration as the beast pulled Naruto away from him.

His eyes fluttered open and a great fox, jumped out of his bedroom window with Naruto on its back.

"Naruto..." Itachi bolted awake looking around his bedroom, where a window was open and the curtains were fluttering in the wind. The pounding in his head subsided. The little blonde child who had been sitting on his chest, was no more. Overcome with foreign emotions he hadn't been able to link together or draw lines between before suddenly made more sense to him now. Something had made him forget. The beast that was after Naruto had made him forget.

Naruto's golden blonde hair.

Naruto's deep blue eyes.

Naruto's shy smile.

He had unconsciously come to like everything about Naruto, and that was why he had been searching for these traits in others, far and wide - but, there was only one Naruto in this whole world. Only one.

"Why Naruto...how could I forget you?" Itachi asked the silence of his room, now bright awake, and unable to find peace. Naruto had been right in front of him and he hadn't recognised the sweet child from his and Sasuke's childhood. He hadn't believed in Sasuke, who had been searching for Naruto for years. Sasuke hadn't forgotten Naruto for even a single moment, so why had he?

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Naruto paced around in the confinements of his bedroom. Unable to find rest. Kurama had not spoken to him all day, or even taken on a form even once and it worried Naruto a lot. He never slept alone, never. That was why he now fumed at Sasuke for rejecting him. Eventually he had decided to check up on Sasuke again, perhaps, just perhaps he was awake too. The blonde treaded carefully as he took silent steps towards Sasuke's bedroom.

He was never good at taking no for an answer, so he would do what he did best. Pester Sasuke and wear him down till the raven would accept his presence, besides with a large bed like that, Sasuke was way too tight-assed.

The door creaked but there was no angry Sasuke to bellow a string of angry words at him, so he closed the door and took in the darkness of the room. His eyes easily adjusted to the lack of light as he walked over to the sleeping form of Sasuke on the bed.

The other boy was laying on his back at the far side of kingsized bed that was positioned against the wall on the far right corner. Chewing his lip in deep thought, Naruto crawled into the bed and laid on other side, facing Sasuke's sleeping face, that looked so innocent and sweet. In the faint moonlight dabbling through the holed blinds, Naruto couldn't help but admire his crow - his Sasuke.

"I really do like you, Sasuke." Naruto whispered near the sleeping boy, and reached out to push that strand of hair that made Sasuke wrinkle his nose, out of his face. As he did so, Sasuke grabbed his arm and pulled Naruto into his chest. Sasuke had turned on his side, and was now hugging a startled Naruto. The blonde laid there frozen for a moment incapable of deciding whether Sasuke was awake, waking up, or doing this unconsciously.

Naruto relaxed letting the tension seep from his rigid body and leant into the arms, succumbing to the soothing darkness and addictive scent of the other man, before he could even gather the will to untangle himself, he had spent his last energy just thinking of one thing: How nice it felt to be hugged like this.

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R&R

Gaaah some of the formatting fucked up and the dream speech in italic looks like normal text, grrrr...

Thanks for all your reviews guys. Sorry it took so long to update, but I'm in the middle of my exam period so instead I've made the chapter longer for all of you. Thanks for motivating me so much, you have no idea how much it means to me.

Next memory will be centered a bit more on Sasuke's ancestor/Past self, and how he will split Naruto from Ichiro,

This chapter is dedicated to these people, for still following my story despite the confusing storyline : )

**Theguynextdoortoyou** ( :) I'm glad you decided to stick around anyways, but I can only agree, I can imagine it must be a bit confusing, but there are no so-called dreams, the memories I pick just randomly link with a similar situation in the present time.)  
**Ylith** (Will you hate Itachi after this chapter? :p)  
**Ezkiel** (I hope so too, I delivered a 24 pages report the other day, now Im waiting to see if its acceptable, anatomy is a pain in the ass. Damn I just realised, those 24 pages could have been spent on writing 2 more chapters, sorry for updating so late, haha)  
**AcinarYoko** (I'm glad you like it so far, and wow you read it all in ONE GO? xD Not bragging or anything but the story is getting a bit long!)  
**Sora** (Top 5? I can only say I'm honoured that you love my story so much :3 Well, the Naruto in the memories is about 22-24 whilst the Naruto in the present time is only 17, so once he remembers who he is, he will surely be a bit more mature. And I've left some hints as to why Kurama dislikes Itachi being close to to Naruto, in this chapter. Can you figure it out? ;))  
**nobaru rei** (Yes, these damn Uchihas, nothing but trouble, and pulling Naruto around like a ragdoll. Naruto agrees with you.)  
**ovicati** (Uhh, you're still reading my story xD *glomps* I'm glad you were intrigued enough by the start of the memory to stick around, I knew it was risky, but, I had planned the multiple weird turns of this story ahead and I stuck to the plan. Haha, it's a relief to know I managed to link the times well enough, I was a bit uncertain about that, hence I got help from some reviewers. I can see why you think that Naruto is more suited for the name Aoi, but Naruto is the same body so of course he should keep his original name, hence, Sasuke became Aoi, or...Aoi becomes Sasuke. My way of writing Naruto is a bit fluctuating tbh, but I try to keep some traits clear, and my Naruto isn't too shy to play around with Sasuke. I couldn't resist. Naruto had grown more full-on with his advances as opposed to his past self who feared rejection above all.)  
**Amathys** ( xD Sasuke has gained a lot of sympathy hasn't he? And Yeah Itachi is a big figure to compare yourself to, but Sasuke isn't worried about Naruto for nothing either. Itachi isn't all sweet.)  
**KoTenshi** (Again, this story isn't one of those that changes pairing last minute. Any sex scene with Itachi will be a oneshot published on the side. This is SasuNaru.)  
**AsunaTakiko** (All I can say is, hats off for you girl. You put some deep thought into this review. You seem able to relate to my writing style more than most, and believe me, I know I can be confusing and conniving with my hidden hints, messages and in-between the line bull. I can't help it! Sorry if I made you cry : ( but I don't regret making you laugh :) Thanks for the brownie, miss.)  
**Yana5** (*Gives cookie, here's a chapter with lotsa Itachi for u, enjoy.)  
**Rei** ( :( Sorry! This chapter took 7 days, don't hate me plz! I am seriously wondering what your thoughts on this chapter will be though. And xD I didn't intentionally decide to update on Naruto's birthday but it's awesome that I did! Haha. Hope you enjoy this chapter. Sasuke will have to save the damsel in distress once again, Deidara is still alive, and so many little things...)  
Killua17 (Things went Naruto-style!)  
**skyglazingMaro **( :( You made me sad now too, because Sasuke has to struggle so much to make Naruto see him. geez why am I depressing myself...)  
**shia naru** ( Here's your update! Hope enjoyed scheeming Itachi and furious Sasuke! I will try to update more frequently after these exams :) )  
**Narutopokefan** (ItaNaru lover? :D I guess you will enjoy this a bit more than pure SasuNaru fans then. ^^)

Till next time! Enjoy your weekend guys! I heart you


	11. Past Life: Of Friends and Rivals

**Orenji****  
**_Written by _**F**_e_I**l**_a**n**_

**Preview Summary**:ツ When an Uchiha speaks, you listen. When an Uchiha offers their hand in friendship, you take it. When an Uchiha wants something, they will have it. So why does his foolish blonde dobe of a neighbour refuse him time and time again? The only logical answer - The boy must be crazy. SasuNaru, minor ItaNaru. Slightly homophobic!Sasuke (easier than denial).

**Extended Summary:**  
_  
Prologue_  
Sasuke Uchiha is an eight year old boy, and antisocial loner, living a life of boredom with riches, a better-knowing brother and a father who is never home. One day new neighbours move in next to them and Sasuke decides to make his blonde neighbour his very first friend. However Naruto Uzumaki has something to say about that because he does not want any friends. Angered by his refusal he starts spying on the blonde and he quickly learns that his shy-looking, timid blonde dobe of a neighbour has many secrets to keep. Why does Naruto not go to school? Why is he always so pale? And is his snake-like bankrobber-guardian as evil as he looks or does it have something to do with Naruto's four-legged imaginary friend?

_After the prologue _  
The raven-haired Uchiha is in for more than he can handle, when he despite all odds manages to make friends with his dobe, but it all ends when Naruto mysteriously disappears, and only Sasuke remembers who Naruto is. Eight years later, the latest hot model Sasuke finds himself still thinking of the boy, until one day Naruto reappears. Too bad for Sasuke though, because Naruto has forgotten who he is. What is wrong with Naruto?

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Naruto Universe, or any part thereof.

**Warning**: No beta, heavy longwinded metaphors because the author is one confusing mess. Sasuke displays signs of being a control freak, egoist, narcissist, as well as having obsessive- and a possessive tendencies.  
**  
Overall Warnings**: AU, Controlling!Sasuke, Demon!Naruto, Timeskip, Past lives and thousand year old fox demons. Memory lapses of Naruto's past life in the Ninja-verse. Don't read if you have a short attention span, the story is long and contains underlying plots, so turn around **if you can't handle something different.**

**AN:** This chapter is **M-rated**, consider it rape or consensual, that's up to you the reader to decide. Again, this is unedited and approximately 14k words, and this is the second chapter of pure past life. Now that I've developed the story of the past this far I can finally move on to next phase in the present day life.

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**Orenji**  
Ch. 11  
- Of Friends and Rivals

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_Past Life_  
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It was no mystery, when Aoi had been less visible as of lately.

Their moments under four eyes had become non-existent and they were never alone long enough to actually communicate, not that his friend ever was one to talk much, except for the brief moments when the Uchiha had ordered something to be done, and then just walked off. And that was _fine_.

There were - could be - many reasons for that, however the endless stream of explanations and excuses he had fed himself with were now running dry and had starting to lose both taste and originality. Getting through a day at snail pace had become the norm, he lacked something, some sort of action-packed element to keep him on his toes and make the everyday life interesting, alas, that too, was getting harder and harder to achieve. Naruto didn't like snail pace. Naruto didn't like sitting around fiddling with paperwork. Naruto didn't like to _sit still_. Naruto didn't like to stay tied to a place with so many memories of his family. Naruto wanted to live everyday as if it could be his last. Naruto wanted to fight. Someone. It didn't have to be a death match, of course. Verbally or physically, take your pick. It didn't matter, he just needed some outlet for his pent-up, frustrations.

He sort of, almost, in a way, kind of... _missed_ Aoi.

That wasn't an easy thing to admit to, it really wasn't but truth of the matter was that, whilst he and Aoi hadn't exactly been friendly, in the eyes of others, they still occupied a lot of each other's time and energy, on their internal strife to best the other, at various things. He had been back for almost six weeks now, and hadn't been allowed to venture out on anymore missions, because of the lengthy amount of time he had been gone earlier in the year, and so. He had started to notice how quiet and, peaceful life here had become.

Aoi was furious with him though, once again. After he had left the Uchiha standing that night, and treated his offer as a joke, Naruto had in a feverish confusion decided to run away and Ichiro had personally set out to bring him back, his dark-haired friend, or rival, wouldn't even look at him. There was anger, fury and pain in his eyes, whenever Naruto caught a glimpse of him. That was when Aoi had started to keep himself buried in work, whenever there was an opportunity to get away, Aoi was the first to grab it.

Leaving Naruto behind in the dust.

There was no friendly teasing, there was no bickering and there was no challenging opponents to fight.

First the perky blonde had shrugged it off as nothing worth fussing about, after all the man always worked hard. Still, he had been busy with all those extracurricular hectic meetings with the River country's governor, that Naruto had not been allowed to participate in and then there was the Hokage's ceremonial procedure, another week later, a crisis had befallen the Hidden Rain village, Amegakure. So because of Konohagakure's friendship and tight relation with the Hidden Rain, Aoi had been sent out to deal with a matter of some armoured rogues who were actively obstructing a bridge construction between their two villages.

Finally a few days ago, Ichiro had informed him of the contents of the last report, and Aoi's return had further been delayed due to a sudden intervention from a feared group of criminals, backing up the rogues from behind the scenes. Essentially, that was the top of the mountain, and Naruto would have been willing to believe the story so far, had he not known that Aoi never, _never_ took weeks to complete a mission. When the man finally came back this morning, he had been nothing but a shadow in the hallways. Quite literally.

It was glaringly obvious what was going on.

Aoi was avoiding him.

Naruto did not mind at this point, the feeling was mutual. He was by then equally angry with Aoi. Eventually they would be back to being friendly again, like always, it wasn't anything new, yet for some weird reason, part of him feared that it was. That it was entirely different now. Again, he didn't mind being avoided, to some extent.

What he did mind though was the way the other had gone so flagrantly out of his way to show that he wanted nothing to do with Naruto, or whatever Naruto had to say, even if it was not actually Aoi he was talking to _but the council_. It was childish really, the man was older than Naruto, more experienced than Naruto and of course the better strategist and mastermind between the two of them, hands down because Naruto always showed his prowess in physical battle, but the way Aoi handled his childish anger towards him was nothing less than that of a brat. He couldn't handle it at all.

Aoi had if anything become even more of a jerk since their nightly run-in. Worse than ever before, today proved his assumption to be true. He was being outright provoked instead of avoided. Flaming - fucking - provoked to the point of wanting to strangle the Uchiha.

Today Aoi completely shot down his proposals at the meeting, when he had decided to make it his goal-in-life to argue against any idea Naruto had shared with the council, and the sad thing was, the asshole was winning them over by twisting Naruto's ideas of better treatment for prisoners of war, into nonsense that could cost the village valuable funds and security. Was it that hard to get prisoners clean water?

Naruto sighed, stretching his sore back. His now taut body wasn't used to sitting still for so long, and would much prefer joining the labourers where he could help packing the wagons with supplies. Anything but dealing with this bastard. At least there he wouldn't have to rack his brain trying to come with law-changing suggestions when clearly, nothing he said would fall on soft soil with these people.

"Uzumaki, what do you think?" The elder softly interrupted his thoughts, and the group of old, balding men, with the additional younger individual in between as the odd ones out, were all staring at him as if he was supposed to be the one who could inform them of the meaning of life. These people. He cursed inwardly and hid the clenched hand in his sleeve. From the corner of his eyes, he could sense those dark eyes locked on his frame, waiting like a vulture ready to rip, devour and tear whatever he had to say, into little bitty pieces. Why the hell had Naruto even bothered coming? Oh yeah that's right, because of the marriage proposals for Ichiro. This was awkward. So now they were listening to him?

As strange as it was, marriage proposals to nobles all had to go through the Hokage's council's discerning eye. With so many more pressing issues, Naruto really found it hard to sit still and listen to their endless concern over Ichiro's lack of bride, what about the starving children in the slums, or the prisoners of war who were treated like criminals and cross-examined by inhuman means for being caught near the wrong people. He knew why none of that mattered, he did. Naruto wasn't as stupid as they all thought him to be.

Most of these old coots had daughters of their own whom they had generously offered, but Ichiro had rejected all proposals so far, and the council had somehow thought it wise to point the needle at Naruto. It was no secret that his words were in higher regard with the oldest Uchiha than any other person he knew, but would they really look towards him for help had they known he was the one taking up the otherwise empty spot in Ichiro's bed.

He doubted it. And so did Aoi who hid a snort and crooked smile.

_'I think this is a waste of time.'_ He sighed, willing himself to ignore Aoi's taunting onyx pits that always managed to keep his body tingling and fidgeting awkwardly in his seat. "From what we've seen, no woman of Konohagakure has been of any interest, so why not look towards, say, Amegakure. I've heard they have quite a few beauties there, namely Konan Ikeda. It could strengthen our bond with them in the wake of the recent trouble at the bridge."

Why not? Naruto had seen the woman a few times, during missions, she was capable despite only being an adoptive daughter of the Ikeda's. Ichiro should be with a beauty like her, but of course these men would again snub any suggestions from his mouth. Not that he cared any longer. They just wanted him to say something for the sake of contributing, and so he did. He finally allowed himself to look over at Aoi, who looked away instantly, but astoundingly enough he saw no sign of objection from the man. In fact, he was strangely passive to his idea.

Ignoring the buzzing of the old men's chattering, he kept staring at the Uchiha, unashamed. He didn't care if he made Aoi uncomfortable anymore in fact he wanted that bastard to feel how it was like to be constantly observed by prying eyes, maybe it would finally make the other stop these, these searing gazes. The gazes the other sent him had at first been cold, calculative and threatening, that was of course, after he had been molested and left tied up in the room where Ichiro can found him, naked, hard and wanting to die from shame. That memory made him cringe, at least Ichiro hadn't made fun of him or asked too much about it, instead his lover had covered him with his own haori and helped him out.

The corners of his dark-haired friend's lips had turned upwards now, into a small smirk.

Aoi was smirking, and looking back at him, with those smouldering eyes again. Naruto grit his teeth, not bothering to hide his annoyance as he tore his eyes away from the mocking Uchiha. Aoi was mocking him, with his half-smile, beautiful face, and bottomless black orbs, encased by long wickedly dark lashes. The man threw his head back, combing a few silky strands of black hair away from his view, with his long pale fingers.

Why the hell had he since bothered befriending this bastard? After he had teasingly played with his cock as a sick outlet for his anger. It wasn't a real friendship or anything but Aoi had started talking to him, once he found out that Naruto had more between his ears than just a former status as noble. Aoi was toying with him again, looking at him like he was an object he could just mark and claim as his. Why was he still looking at Naruto? What the hell did he _want_? He still had yet to understand what the man's sick fascination with bothering him was.

It was always like this. First they would be friendly, then the next day they would be fighting alongside each other like two swords of the same metal, working together to defeat a common foe, then they would celebrate and go drinking like old buddies, and then Naruto would wake up the next day after spending the night at Ichiro's room and the next time he saw his friend, Aoi would be cold and distant with him again. Refusing to talk, and just sticking to himself like a scorned woman and Naruto had at first been apologetic, thinking he had said something wrong in his drunken state, but it happened every time so eventually he would have enough of the other's poor attitude and just say his goodbyes and be on his way.

It was a repetitive cycle.

_Push, pull, push, pull, push, pull,_ and Naruto wasn't having it anymore.

Naruto still remembered those late nights he had spent in the study with Aoi, they had been nagging and cursing at each other like two bitter enemies over a strategic plan for their upcoming mission. Aoi wanted black, so Naruto wanted white. Aoi said sneak and Naruto would say _'Let's barge in'_. Aoi had wanted to infiltrate the enemy's base through a secret path in the mountains, whilst Naruto would insist on the river, the water level was lower in the early dawn of morning - which the other had forgotten to take into consideration, so it wasn't as if his idea was all that brash, it was rather smart actually. Reluctantly Aoi had him map out the landscapes surrounding the bases to show what he meant. Main point was, it was impossible to agree, and meeting half ways was not an option for either of them.

That was one time Aoi had praised him though, when Naruto managed to draw the map over the mountains, rivers, forests and fields all around like he knew the territory as well as his back garden. Naruto had a good memory when it came to the landscape they found themselves in, in the past he would get lost often, but for some reason he found himself able to sense, smell and hear things other's couldn't. And his sense of direction was never wrong anymore, it was like there was some inborn compass in him now, he heavily relied on his intuition these days.

Aoi back then had seemed almost friendly despite his lack of emotion. They got along, somehow even if they couldn't agree on the most basic things.

"As unusual as your proposal is, it might not be all foolish talk. We will take it into consideration till next week."

What.

Did he hear that right? Naruto couldn't believe it, he had half and half been joking since, well, he expected no serious consideration to any answer he might have given. It shouldn't have been this way though. A headache had started pressing on. Would Ichiro be upset with him over this? It was definitely not an everyday- or normal thing - to throw women into the arms of your own lover. It did nag him a bit, of course it would. Although not as much as he wanted to, he did love the man to some extent. Could he really share?

"This meeting has been concluded."

Cursed be his life.

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He stretched his arm at its full length making sure he could only lightly tap the bark with his fisted hand, before pulled back the offending arm, and threw a left hand punch with the same result of hardly coming into contact. Repeat. His concentration was total, his whole being was focused with perfect intensity on this one movement. He was after a few weeks able to hold the flurry of steady punches at this speed for about three minutes before he had to stop up for a breather. It was then that his friend had taken the chance to crawl out from her hiding. "Naruto!"

"Morning Hime!" Naruto quickly looked over and sent her a smile and a wave as greeting.

"What are you doing?" She asked, ignoring the branches and bushes that had ripped at her fine silk kimono.

"Why, I'm killing flies midair, of course." Was his dry answer that made the girl chuckle as to took a seat on a nearby stone to spectate. Naruto got up again, readying himself for another session.

"You have gotten stronger, Naruto." Himeko complimented, while tugging at the torn edges of her clothes.

"Ehehe, I know right? Soon I will beat your cousin!" Naruto gave a foxy grin, unconsciously showing off his slightly pointy canines. "This isn't strength training though, I'm hardly hitting the tree, see? It's speed."

"If anyone can, it's you." She agreed. Truthfully she felt like scolding Naruto, but couldn't. She felt they were bound together by the same type of pitiful fate, and her heart went out to him for enduring so well, when she couldn't. "Everyone is going half crazy with worry about you these days."

"Haha, why? You know how on edge this place makes me." He said offhandedly, but Himeko just shook her head at him. "I really just want to get my next mission, and leave."

"That's the problem isn't it? You never rest. You don't know how to relax or settle down." Her black hair flowed gently in the wind. "You've been back for what, nearly two months but it feels like you just came back yesterday. Aoi talked about you a lot when you were gone you know."

"I s'ppose we haven't been hanging out much since my return." Naruto admitted absentmindedly as he searched his satchel for his bottle of water. She jumped off the stone and carried a box wrapped in silk over. "What's that you got there?" He gestured at the bundle. Smiling secretively, she began to unwrap it, but Naruto's nose gave it away. "Is that what I think it is? Mmhh, Hime you're the best. I didn't even realise till now that I was starving!"

"Of course you wouldn't. Once you fixate that one-track mind of yours on one thing you forget everything else, even taking care of yourself." She laughed and pulled the silk cloth off and tried to spread it, but with some resistance from the light breeze on the hill.

"Well, then it's good I have you!" Naruto couldn't hide a cheeky smile as he helped her stretching out the silk. "Better take a seat before it flies away again."

As they sat there enjoying the packed food, Naruto had to recount for his recent trip to Whirlpool Country, with her cousin Eiji and his team. Himeko often complained about being stuck in Konoha because of her desire to travel the world, but she had never shown great promise as a Kunoichi unlike her male cousin who had been stamped, the successor of the Hyuuga Clan from a very early age, hence she had been traded off as a bride. Eventually they ended up talking about her life here in Konoha. Something that seemed to trouble her more than enough.

Naruto had thought of ignoring everything and running away too. The two of them had more in common than he let her know. It wasn't her fault that she was stuck with the man who made Naruto's life hell. Naruto had found it awkward talking with her after their first meeting that had ended in a disaster, but he had come to care for her as a sister since. Himeko also seemed to be more comfortable around him, although still shy she probably saw a type of brother in Naruto as well.

"Can I ask you something?" She sounded a bit nervous with the way she was looking around to make sure they were truly alone. Naruto quirked an eyebrow, blue eyes attentive and signalling for her to continue.

"It's about Aoi." She hesitated, when Naruto's eyes darkened. "Do you think he's interested in another woman?"

"Not that I'm aware of no. I believe you are the only one. Perhaps he is in love with his brother." He said, dismissively ignoring the look of terror crossing the girl's face at that thought.

"Really?!" She looked genuinely worried.

"Haha, I hope not. Well, I was joking, but he is a bit obsessed with all matters concerning his brother, is all. Just an observation." Naruto clarified with a sly grin. He wasn't really lying or making things up. Aoi did seem too interested in his brother's affairs. "He has probably been acting distant with all that extra workload he had taken on recently."

"He has always been distant, it's not that.." She refuted, her mauve eyes looking straight at him, begging. "I'm just at my wits ends."

Naruto got up to stretch his sore limbs, before looking downwards and casting her an apologetic glance. "I really don't understand that guy, I'm not the right person to ask."

"You're wrong. I know it, you two are way closer than anyone else." She sounded sure, so sure. "H-he really mentions you quite a lot. If you don't know him, no one does." She was distressed, and it made Naruto feel bad, because despite her conviction and belief, it was as she said. No one understood Aoi. Naruto didn't know whether to think, _'serves him right'_ or if he should pity the Uchiha for not having anyone who truly understood him.

"Hime. I don't know and nor could I imagine what he says about me but you really have the wrong impression of us. Mind telling me the real problem, something more specific seems to be bothering you. I don't like dancing around the subject on tiptoes." Naruto held back a sigh and grabbed his bottle. After a good few swigs of water, the hammer fell.

"I fear he is impotent. Naruto, what should I do? He just falls asleep every night." She finally spilled.

Naruto instantly sloshed the water in his mouth out, and coughed a bit, it took him a moment to regain his composure. "I really don't fancy knowing the sordid details of that pricks sexual problems." He spat, assuming a frown. "Look, Hime, I'm sorry," Naruto's brows had furrowed. He slid down next to the tree again with a groan, studying her questioning face. "but...could we perhaps not talk about Aoi right now? I'm not in a very lenient mood today."

Himeko pouted at this, but let her own problems take a backseat for now. "He did something to piss you off again?"

"Yeah, you could say that. Just being selfish and arrogant as usual. Nothing new right?"

"I suppose." She still looked troubled but decided to pack the empty box, with a little help from Naruto.

"I'll walk you back, okay?" Naruto said, still feeling apologetic for being unable to help his friends with her problems.

"Okay." She said, and a small smile returned to her face as he held her hand.

_He could have never known that today was a turning point in life as he knew it, in more ways than one..._

.

* * *

.

Back at the Uchiha compound they were greeted by fussing maid servants, who were insisting on dragging Himeko away to be tidied up. Naruto couldn't lie, she was a bit clumsy and almost cute with the way she didn't give a care in the world when it came to a little dirt or twigs. She had probably ruined another Kimono to just come and see him today.

The second thing he noticed was that some of the horses were gone. Someone had left, probably Aoi. The guy just couldn't wait to get away from him, could he? Naruto snorted to himself as he set off towards the bathhouse. The pungent smell of dried sweat wasn't the least bit charming, and when you could smell yourself, it just meant it was ten times worse to others.

The bathhouse was always empty around midday, so it had become Naruto's preferred time to bathe, knowing everyone else would be dining and drinking so it would take a good three hours before the first drunken men came to soak.

He quickly discarded his clothes, and unfolded the clean bundle of clothes he had brought along, so he could swiftly slip out and get dressed fast if a situation needed it. Sinking into the massive tub, he let out a sound of utter bliss, letting his sore body relax in the heat. It felt incredibly good. No water was too warm for him.

After soaking for a good while he started scrubbing off the dead skin and dirt that still clung to him. With a displeased growl, he noticed that one part of him remained tense. This heat always gave him a massive hard problem to deal with, which was another reason he preferred to bathe alone. The guys would probably freak out at him, if he was bathing together with them and suddenly got a hard-on, he knew he would.

Tentatively he lets a hand trace the length of his shaft, determining the amount of time it would take to work this problem out, unfortunately it was harder than usual leaving his first option, to simply leave it alone and let it solve itself, fly out the window.

Getting to work, he sat back and tried to rest his head against the wooden wall, as he set a relatively slow pace, consisting of slow squeezing pumps, and using his thumb to massage the sensitive tip. It took a minute to get started but if he hadn't already been wet and surrounding by warm damp air, he would have definitely felt beads of perspiration forming along with air heating up around him. He swept the wet damp bangs away from his forehead as he let out a low, but deep guttural moan in the silent room.

Naruto hadn't felt the need to do this for a while but today, he had lost control. Now he was reduced to pleasuring himself in the bathhouse, and it had only been three days since Ichiro had left for the week. If only his Lord was here, in the tub with him. That thought made him progress a bit faster.

He forced himself to see, his lover leaning over him teasingly, trailing his wet body, from his lip to his throat, to his clavicle bone, and then working down towards his navel with that long pale index finger of his, only stopping at his hips. Nothing turned him on more than the sight of that beautiful pale face, and smouldering lust-filled black eyes gazing up at him from between his legs, surrounded by that loose black hair that tickled his thighs, as his length sunk into that awaiting mouth cavity, with wet slurp-y noises.

"A-ah." A strangled moan reverberated in his throat as his manhood twitched appreciatively at his mental pictures. Oh, yes, he was lucky to have such a suave partner who could bring him to such heights. He clenching hard around his would-be weeping erection as pleasure spread to his curling toes, when he increased the pace quite significantly to an almost unbearable pace, unable to take his mind off of that overwhelming sensation of a wet muscle licking the underside of his penis so well. He was close, and he felt his stomach knot at the quickly building tension in his abdomen. It was too much, too quickly.

"_A-hem_." Came a voice, but at this point Naruto was too far gone as his body went rigid against the wall, and a silent, suppressed scream of pleasure escaped from his throat, he only faintly noticed the naked, dark-haired man in front of him, looking at him with a strange look as he came hard, with enough pressure to shoot spurts of white through the surface of tub water.

His mind was a haze and he could hardly see a thing as he breathed noisily from the aftermath of his climax, trying to regain sense and vision. He had been so horny and deprived that he had even seen Aoi standing there in front of him as a spectator when he released, how freaky would that have been if-

Aoi _was_ here.

"T-teme! What are doing here?" Naruto blurted out without being able to think coherently, he flushed instantly, if he wasn't already completely red-faced from the damp he definitely was now. The Uchiha was still standing there in all his naked glory, looking at him as if he was lowest creep alive.

After a moment of silent, the other looked away from him.

"I intended to bathe like you." The other replied dully, whilst smirking knowingly. Aoi knew exactly what he had been doing, and apparently found amusement in it. "But I think I should wait till the maids bring some more water. Don't you?"

He had been caught red-handed, exposed, in-the-act and all that nonsense, but strangely enough he felt very nonchalant about it now. So what if he had been pleasuring himself, it wasn't as if other men hadn't done it before him. Naruto really had nothing to be ashamed about.

That's what he told himself, that's what he_ believed_.

Not bothering to give some lame retort to the provocation, because he was more mature than that now, Naruto crawled out when his erection had gone flaccid, and scurried to the other end of the room and quickly covered his bare behind, and front, with a piece of cloth before daring to face the other man again.

Aoi was looking at Naruto again, with those eyes. A thought crossed his mind. Perhaps Aoi was jealous? Himeko could be right, perhaps Aoi was really ineffective, _down there_.

"Naruto." Aoi was smiling at him, and he felt like running away right then and there. "Get dressed and start packing, the Hokage has given us orders. You are going on a mission with me." Aoi's eyes were ablaze with some sort of triumph. Naruto felt a shiver as the man's eyes ran over his bare back. but when he met the other's eyes again they were hard and fixated, on his face. Naruto was going on a mission? Alone with Aoi? Why all of a sudden? "Meet me at the gates in one hour, we need to hurry before nightfall."

"M-me?! But I've volunteered for the moon festival I can't go-" Naruto was confused. He didn't need this, especially not now that he had just had gotten used to the idea of Aoi completely ignoring him, now he had to spend a month in the field with a guy who hated his guts? Fuck off, this bastard hadn't talked to him for over a month and now he decides to worm himself back into his life acting all casual about his whole disappearing act, and provocations. _Besides, the bastard had once again seen him wank off. Could life be more fucked up._

Apparently so.

"I did warn you, against staying with my brother." A smirk spread over the man's flawless face, as Naruto squirmed and he scowled. "If you refuse to stay away, I will drag you away and from that look on your dumb face it would appear you took my threat lightly."

_So the bastard is making a joke of it now, is he? Stupid brother complex._

"Teme!"

.

* * *

.

Naruto grit his teeth, silently biting back the awkwardness and earlier humiliation, still fresh in his mind as they strode in silence. The cold night air that should have cleared his mind, did nothing for him whatsoever and he reluctantly stole glances at the dark-haired man running so close to him, with a grace that gave Naruto the shivers. Aoi was physically weaker than him, or so he had always convinced himself, but the man probably had the stronger legs between the two of them.

The way Aoi moved so effortlessly a little bit ahead of him almost put in him in a trance as he tried to keep up, eyes fixed on the lean frame sprinting through the terrain as if he was made for swiftness. Shaking his head he tried to keep his eyes on the road ahead, forcing himself to memorize their path for later use.

Debating on whether to call out and ask for rest or bite in the pain as his energy reserve slowly drained, Naruto tried to shift the weight of his landing to keep going with minimal harm to his aching ankles. His face was starting to feel cold and his skin had become slightly numb from the constant but gentle blowing of a head-on wind.

Just ahead he spotted an opening in the trees and the landscape changed before him, it was soil. Soft dirt that clung to his soles. Aoi was getting ahead again, unaffected by the soft ground. Naruto almost gasped when someone spoke to him.

_'Kit. Don't hurt yourself, let me help.'_ It was the beast. Naruto hadn't talked to the demon since the war had ended. _'So you missed me? Touching, I thought I'd let you know...that_ _when_ _you're in Konoha, I can't communicate with you. Someone is interfering with my powers_.'

He wanted to know more but the something drew his attention.

A tingling warmth washed over his body and the ache vanished like dew under the rays of sun. He felt light, agile and powerful. His body weighed nothing and his feet set off the ground with no endeavour at all. Could he become faster as well? Faster than Aoi?

_'You can. If that is what you want.'_

Thrill filled him as he cut through the air like he had sprouted a pair of wings, the feeling was almost staggering, he was so fast that he struggled to balance himself and his jumps became wild and unpredictable when he accidentally used too much strength in one leg over the other. Aoi had turned around to check if he had fallen behind, and in that exact moment he sprinted past the slower Uchiha, who in turn increased his own pace in an attempt to keep up with Naruto.

"Why are you so _slow_?" Naruto laughed, as he basked in the feeling of weightlessness that filled him with like pure elation. He felt so happy, so complete, so free - sprinting through the starlit night at the speed of light. Finally, finally he was out again, away from Konohagakure, away from the same town, with the same people, living the same boring lifestyle, this was what he lived for.

"Hn. I was slowing down for you a moment ago. Guess you were the right partner for this mission after all." Aoi smirked and Naruto smiled back at him. A true, radiant, sincere smile from pure happiness, and for a second Naruto was sure he saw the very same thoughts filling his own mind and body, passing through the Uchiha's bottomless eyes.

The adventure, the thrill, the competition with Aoi at his side, storming through the world together. He loved it all. Together he felt they were invincible, under the sky. Whatever fights and differences they had, mattered not here, they were simply two entities, chasing each other, pushing each other, encouraging each other to break the limits and laws nature had set for them. Within this bliss, Naruto was even willing to believe that he could erase all those frustrations, confusions and happenings from the last six weeks. Because, nothing ever felt so right before.

"Naruto!" The other called from behind him. He grinned to himself, unable to stop himself from smiling, Aoi couldn't keep up, now that was something to smile about.

"Are your legs hurting?" He threw back, but he didn't hear any response.

_'You went the wrong way, kit.'_

"Ohh." With swift turn of direction he jumped backwards and clashed with something solid and fleshy and fell to the ground on top of Aoi, who coughed and heaved painfully from the collision. Aoi had chased after him, and that was what had caused the accident.

"Ughff...dobe. Get off.." He felt dizzy as he shifted on the other man's body, trying to pick himself up. Aoi moaned underneath him, whether it was pain or pleasure didn't matter, he violently flung himself to the side, to not be affected by the involuntary but pleasant feeling the taller man's body had invoked in him. _Dangerous._

"Sorry." Naruto mumbled, unable to see the dusted pink on the other's cheeks as the man gets up and dusts himself off with a grumpy expression. The awkwardness was returning and Naruto already missed the feeling of freedom, that had left his mind blank and heightened his senses, in an almost intimate way. "Is there an Inn close by?"

Aoi finally looked up at him, still looking slightly annoyed. "No, we passed one an hour ago and the next inn is half a day's travel away, we need to set up a camp here for the night."

Naruto protested. "Aw, why didn't you just stop at the last Inn?"

The dark-haired man glared at him now, as he scouted the area. "I did try to, but you were showing off and continued ahead, so I was forced to follow."

"I don't want to sleep in the forest..." Naruto could sleep here, but with this much energy in reserve it would be a waste to not make it to an Inn. And besides, Inn's were still preferred, when the chance was presented. Aoi was looking at him in silent contemplation as if he was speculating on whether to give the death penalty or the life in a cell option. In the end it was neither.

"Should have thought of that before you turned a simple travel from destination to destination into a contest." Aoi groaned as he pulled the bag off his shoulder and rolling it a bit to get rid of the stiffness and ache.

Naruto smiled and scratched his head sheepishly, still feeling lightheaded from the borrowed strength. Aoi was bitter because he had been able to keep up and even sprint ahead, now he just had to win again by convincing the other that going to an Inn would be a good idea. "Come on, let's go back, if we race again if you want, it might only take half an hour."

"There's no way we will back step on this travel. Find a spot to sleep and stop whining." The Uchiha sounded a bit tired actually, even to Naruto who was still lively and ready to run a marathon. "You had better watch where we go next time then if you want to lead. Sunagakure is still days away, so if you keep this up, we could end up camping a lot."

Aoi hadn't given him the full details yet, but their destination was the Wind country's, hidden sand village, Sunagakure. Naruto could only remember off the top of his head, that there had recently been appointed a new Kazekage, so if his assumptions were correct it had something to do with that. Most surprisingly was that the Kazekage was supposed to be no older than him and Aoi.

"Wait, I know this place! There's an inn just on the other side of this mountain! It will be fast. Let's go!" Naruto said and pointed towards the rising terrain on their left, hoping he was right.

"I swear if you are lying..." Aoi sent him a menacing glare but picked up his bag nonetheless and faced the direction Naruto had pointed.

"Just trust me." Naruto smiled and set off to find the inn, with Aoi on tow.

.

* * *

.

They had entered the shabby little Inn, expecting an unkempt bedroom with itchy pillows, creaking wooden floors and a bar full of smoke plus the occasional gang of misfits hanging out and looking for trouble. Fortunately it looked worse on the outside than it really was. The thatched roof had looked holed and full of leakages, the whole area looked mostly like a swamp actually the inside had an almost homely feel to it.

"I should have you banned from doing missions for a year for this!" The other sneered. sounding harsher than he was meaning to, but Aoi was grumpy, dozy, and sore, which was never a good state to find the other in. They had reached a smaller city at the River country's border, and if the weather held for tomorrow as well they would be able to cross and camp somewhere in Wind country by tomorrow night.

"Who is whining now? It only took us two hours and we're closer to Suna, aren't we?" Naruto bit back, not the least bit scared of Aoi's empty threats. "Look at it as my way of saying thank you for dragging me away from home. Not that I honestly mind, it's good to be out actually. You have no idea how happy I am to finally be free from the same old scenery."

_So you think you punished me, by taking me on this mission, you couldn't have been more wrong._

Those black eyes was at him again with an incredulous look. "You're happy?"

"Yea!" Naruto smiled, nothing could ruin his mood. Not even Aoi being a bastard. Today he was immune. "It seems like we only get along when we're on missions together, so isn't it perfect?"

The Uchiha said nothing, just snorted and walked up to the Innkeeper. The boisterous woman had been in the midst of flirting with one of the drunk villagers, but immediately switched target the moment Aoi approached at the table. "Good evening, handsome, anything I can do for you?"

Aoi had looked hesitant to respond. "We would like two rooms, please." It was Naruto's turn to snort as he observed with silent amusement the way Mr._ handsome's_ eyebrows twitched at the pet name.

"I'm sorry, dear, we only have one double room available." After a moment she went on with her monologue, Naruto knew, the Uchiha had stopped listening though."We have so many more guests in the rain season."

"Fine, we'll take it."

"One bottle of Sake too please!" The blonde interrupted beside him, draping an arm around Aoi, while smiling radiantly at the Innkeeper who giggled like a little girl, when she saw Naruto.

"I remember you! You were that sweet kid who was staying over last year, with two other boys and that violent girl." She gushed as he took in his dishevelled appearance.

Naruto nodded earnestly, still grinning slyly when Aoi tried to wriggle his draped arm off, which in turn only made the blonde put more weight into the one-armed hug whilst not really paying attention to the aggravated Uchiha. They were on Naruto's playfield now, and such a technicality as class differences had no meaning here, besides Aoi couldn't be as desperate as to announce his identity to the lower-born commoners in this bar, he was too proud to do something so desperate and crass. Aoi finally stopped struggling, but remained tense. "Ye yea, that's me, so you remember little me, I'm honoured."

"Of course, you're too pretty to forget dear." Naruto blushed and barely noticed the sour look that had settled as a small frown on Aoi's lips.

"See, teme? I told you I had been here before!" The blonde exclaimed triumphantly, still playing the buddy card.

"You shouldn't be drinking when you're like this." The older male said overbearingly. "Cancel that order, please."

"Like what? What exactly is wrong with you? Can't I have a little fun, we made it far today." Naruto spat, retracting his arm from the other's shoulders, all mirth gone from his blue eyes. "Forget what he said, I'm having that sake!"

"Fun?" Aoi glared at him, with that incredulous look from earlier. "You're unbelievable. Is it impossible for you to feel sadness or something?"

Naruto couldn't see what the man's problem was and why he was so set on the fact that Naruto shouldn't feel happy or be having fun. He was free, he was where he belonged, in the field, travelling across the world that he loved. This was where he could be himself, someone other than the pitiful lone Namikaze who was the topic of all house maids and had to rely on other families to give him a bed to sleep in. He hated all that.

"Give my partner the key so he can go to the room and sulk, don't mind him, he is just a bit moody today." Naruto apologised, and the woman gave him a knowing smile before holding out the key for Aoi to take. If looks could kill, Naruto would be dead by now, but he didn't care. Aoi wasn't going to ruin his night.

Reluctantly the man grabbed the key and with a last fierce glower at Naruto he left the bar. "Don't be back late."

"Here's your sake. Keep smiling and don't let other's take that from you, okay?" The Innkeeper sounded almost motherly, and it touched something within Naruto. He took the sake and left a few extra coins.

"Thanks, I think I better go to the room as well, else he might lock me out. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." She called at the retreating back of the blonde man, who waved back over his shoulder.

Leaving behind the soft chattering noises of the people in the bar, clinging glasses, quiet laughs and scraping sound of stools, he ventured outside in the open hall in search for their room. He stopped up when he saw Aoi sitting at the entrance to the hallway silently observing the rainfall, pitter-pattering against the wet scenery.

The verdant smell of rain, was cold, purging, and bare to Naruto's oversensitive nose. As he got closer he saw the head of black hair silently bobbing up and down, he wasn't awake. The Uchiha was sleeping outside, undisturbed by the constant splashing sound of raindrops, thrumming against the edge of the porch like a nodding statue. Naruto was next to him now, pondering on what to do. Should he leave the groggy man outside or drag him in?

Taking a swig of sake, he put it away near the double futon. The noise he made caused the sleeping man to stir and wrinkle his straight, perfect nose a bit as if he could smell the sake and was disgusted by it. Aoi's sloppy body stretched a bit and leaned further back against the pillar when Naruto came back for him dressed down to his undergarments, it wasn't as if anyone was outside to see him.

He wanted to wake the bastard but his patience in dealing with a wake Aoi was starting to thin out. It would be better for the both of them if the bastard just slept. So instead he attempting to pull the man into a better position by pulling his upper body, luck was not on his side though when the sudden movement made the Uchiha's head roll forwards where it came to rest on Naruto's thigh, that he automatically decided to cling to like a pillow whilst he was at it. Naruto swore through clenched teeth fighting the seductive warmth so close to his crotch, but the real panic set in when the man's face nestled into the comforting crack between Naruto's legs.

"A-ah! Teme! Let go!" In the midst of the pandemonium Naruto violently made a kicking motion with the leg the man was hugging, efficiently sending the other crashing sideways face first into the wooden planks that made up the entirety of the floor on the narrow hallway. "I am very sorry!" Naruto quickly burst out once he realised his mistake, he was trying his best to control his voice as he pulled the other man up, who were now swearing and massaging his sore head not understanding a thing that had just happened.

"You should be sorry!" Aoi yelled, voice laced with a fury that made the blonde involuntarily quiver, he had never heard the other quite this enraged before. Aoi often yelled at Naruto and said nasty things but nothing compared or even came close to the mere intensity in his voice now, unlike those other times, there was a bite to it. The Uchiha hastily brushed off his clothes. "If you don't pay attention to where you walk, you might just wake up to find yourself floating in the swamp!" Finally Aoi looked up at him with blazing murderous eyes - and then he froze, his blazing eyes that had looked an almost glowing shade of volatile crimson a second ago now turned to wide black, in a split-second.

"N-naruto?!" The Uchiha blurted, his voice betraying the hidden emotions behind his mask. "You're back already?"

"Tch, I just wanted to help you to bed, you're a real bastard, so how about that swim in the swamp, still up for it?" Naruto couldn't hide his ridicule anymore, the bastard had provoked him more than enough tonight. When Aoi only managed to still look somewhat flabbergasted despite his mask, Naruto turned on his heel, mumbling '_Teme_' under his breath as he went inside to sit down on his futon. The stopper was pulled and the sake bottle was lifted high as he drank greedily. If he was to spend a whole night with this asshole he might as well make sure he wouldn't wake up from his slumber.

Aoi had disappeared the next time he looked out on the porch. Should he just close the door and go to bed? Naruto was patient when it came to people, he might snap easily and do impulsive things, but he really did pride himself in giving people chances to redeem themselves when they earnestly wished to. Once again, he would put this nonsense behind him and find some peace, being angry with Aoi wouldn't get him anywhere, and neither would drinking, because for some reason tonight he couldn't get drunk.

Empty at his side was the bottle, not a drop left, and here he lay on his stomach still with a mind in full pandemonium. Some sick twisted feeling in his body remained, if Aoi had been nicer, kinder and more gentle, he would still be in love with the man, and not just the body, that his own still longed for, and evidently, after tonight's accidents the tension and attraction had only increased.

* * *

"Uzumaki."

Naruto flipped over and sat up in shock, when he heard Aoi stop up somewhere behind him, and sure enough, there he was, stoic face and everything, clad in a loose white Kimono. For sleeping. So the other had undressed in the bathroom, it would seem.

"Oh, so you want to talk to me again, handsome? Calling me Uzumaki all of a sudden..." He mocked the man, feeling a thrill rise in his chest upon seeing the flicker of emotion in the other's deep black.

"Hn, and here I thought you would be crying, like a woman." Was the proud Uchiha's comeback, as he eyed Naruto, making the blonde shiver. "You've held it in all day, acting all happy, I am almost starting to believe that you really didn't care, but I guess you were happy I helped you get away in time."

"Crying? What the hell are you talking about?!" Naruto snapped, not liking one bit, that twisted smile that spread on the other's perfectly shaped lips. Mocking him. Hating him. Controlling him. The other knew something he didn't - that much was clear. Aoi had known something all day, and that was what he had been thinking of when he seemed so obsessed with Naruto's state of mind. Apparently Naruto wasn't supposed to smile, be happy or have fun. Kami forbid it. He had been trying to wag it in Naruto's face, and the blonde hadn't caught on.

"You haven't heard, have you?" The Uchiha said, suddenly not smiling anymore. "I did you a favour."

"...heard what?"

Black eyes pinned him to stay seated on the futon, with a calculating intensity. Aoi was looking at him with those eyes again, like the night he had caught him sneaking out of his brother's quarters. The bastard had revived, Aoi wasn't being nice to him, Aoi hadn't been doing him a favour, not when Aoi could look this pleased with himself.

Then the silence was broken.

"The reason my brother left the other day, I guess he didn't tell you." His tormentor began with a smooth voice, empty of all emotions.

"My brother accepted your proposal. Funny isn't it?" Aoi said heartily as if he was the bringer of good news, and even laughed a little bit, as he noted how the marrow of the blonde's spine seemed to have stopped working altogether. The blonde sat stricken in the mass of loose white covers, too shocked to even blink or cry, his finger nails had dug into his thighs with such strength that his knuckles seemed to lose the underlying colour of blood, through the tan skin.

_No..no...no..._

Then the bastard continued. "You have more power over my brother than you realise. Good job, usuratonkachi."

_Don't talk to me...  
_  
Ichiro had decided to take a wife.

_And you chose her._ He reminded himself._  
_  
Naruto's mind had become blank and if the other man was still laughing at him, he had blocked that out already, he couldn't look at Aoi, or hear Aoi, or even sense Aoi. Slowly he felt the pressure in the bridge of his nose, burn, as if he was about to cry, but he snapped out of it and willed his eyes to fight against the increase in wetness. Out of the corner of his blurred eyes, he finally became aware of the feet treading towards him with hesitant steps. Aoi was coming closer. Too close.

_Go Away..._

Aoi's hand had come to rest on his shoulder. He didn't want this. Couldn't stand to be touched, not now. Not with such tenderness. Aoi wasn't tender or caring, he was evil and manipulative.

_Leave me alone..._

A thud. The other man had dropped to his knees beside him. Couldn't he just disappear, and go somewhere far far away where Naruto wouldn't have to see his smug face. A face of victory, over Naruto. Over disgusting Naruto who had been soiling his brother, loving his brother, sleeping with his brother.

"Go away." There, he finally said it.

Aoi didn't move from his side, didn't let go of him, didn't listen to a damn thing he said. Of course he wouldn't when a chance, a chance of _tormenting_ Naruto a bit more, presented itself so deliciously, how could that bastard resist?

"Are you really crying idiot?" Aoi's voice was faint, almost gentle. As if he cared about Naruto, but he didn't, if Aoi cared about him, he wouldn't be here flaunting some type of victory in Naruto's face, he wouldn't be here watching him cry so pathetically. Naruto's cheeks were wet with warm fluids. He _was_ crying. Crying like a baby, thinking about Ichiro. How could he have been so stupid? He loved Ichiro, more than he had realised, he _was_ in love with his lover, whom he wasn't supposed to love because he was sure he was actually in love with...

"Go away!"

His throat hurt, constricted, ached, every time a sob broke through his barrier.

The Uchiha didn't respond only seemed to edge closer to him, clouding his torn mind with his close proximity. So the bastard still had this power over him, rendering Naruto unable to fight him off. He cursed his weak heart, his weak mind and his weak body. How pathetic was he?

_This prick._

"I hate when you're like this..."

Naruto's sob broke and he looked up in surprise, facing the man who now held onto his arms tightly, with his own trembling hands, digging into Naruto's bare skin. Declaring his hate. Yet refusing to let go of him. Aoi's hands felt cold on his skin. No. They felt warm in fact. So warm that they could make his skin melt with their touch. Aoi was ice, he was cold, ice-cold and numbing, but never warm, so why did his touch make him so hot.

_I hate you too..._

Those dark eyes, narrowed and glossed over, observing at him, with feelings, that Aoi wasn't capable of feeling, but they were there and it made his chest hurt, his eyes darted away from black. Aoi mumbled something, but he didn't want to hear anymore, he didn't want to see these illusory feelings. None of it was real. The warm touch shifted, Aoi had let go of his arms.

_Evil..._

"Naruto.." It was only a soft whisper. The warm breath fanned against his salty cheek.

He couldn't say it out loud like Aoi had, he couldn't declare his hatred like he so desperately wanted. Something stopped him. Time had stopped.

Naruto was on his back on the futon looking up at the light bamboo ceiling where the weak flame from the candlestick made the shadows dance for his obscured blue eyes. The wind from outside must have entered the room, because, he could feel those silky black wisps of hair brushing against his wet face, like on that day he should have died. Something blocked his view of the dark ceiling. He couldn't see anything at first, it was too close, too obscure. Then he saw a pair of black eyes, warm and gentle, but in a world of their own pain as well. Their lids closed and the long lashes fluttered, tickled and brushed against him.

Aoi's eyes were closed, and his hands buried in Naruto's blonde strands, pressing into his scalp and holding him in place with such power, such craving. Tears had stilled and he struggled to breathe through his nose, when his mind finally caught up to the shock of those pink, warm and supple lips crushed against his. _Scorching, searing, melting, blending_ into Aoi's so completely. So wholly. Entirely. It almost hurt, it almost felt so good that it was painful.

Lips were on his, kissing him hungrily, nibbling on him with a twisted savage need as if trying to devour his very essence. Naruto almost choked as he gasped for air, but hardly had he managed to suck in the much needed air before his mouth was invaded by an unknown wet appendage tracing the inside of his mouth, tasting him, drinking him, consuming him.

The taste was fresh - slightly sweet - cleaning away the dry aftertaste of sake in his mouth. The invading muscle stroking his own twitching tongue, caressing him only a moment longer when the lips pulled away, leaving him insatiable and wanting, from lack of that overwhelming sensation that had wrecked his hazy mind like a drug, leftover was only his most primitive needs intact, and those instincts was what made him latch back onto the retreating pair of lips, just as hungry, just as wanting, just as desperate - for more.

It frightened and excited him at the same time. Somewhere in the back of his mind, it felt so wrong, as if he should fend the other man off of him, be angry, be furious, but he could do nothing his lips were tingling. How could this be wrong, it felt so right, as if they were meant to be connected this way.

Only when through the blissful haze in his mind, he vaguely feels one of the hands untangling itself from his hair to grab his own, lying limply between their chests and separating their bodies, does he start to wonder. Fingers entwine and his hand is pinned somewhere above his head, but it hardly matters, not when he feels his undergarments being torn off.

"W-what the heck do you think you are doing!?" Naruto yelled, wriggling and pulling at his limps, safely kept in place under the Uchiha's weight and grasp.

Aoi remained passive to Naruto's outburst and leaned down tracing the shell of the blonde's ear with his tongue, and whispered the words. "I promised you didn't I?"

"Promised what? Let g-!" Naruto yelled again, this time louder, hoping someone outside could hear him, but Aoi bit down on his exposed neck, taking a fold of skin in between his lips and sucking hard, leaving a bright red mark.

"I would replace him, that's what I'm doing. So.." Aoi murmured, sounding uncomfortably nonchalant about it all, and it bothered Naruto a lot. Part of him hurt, because Aoi was merely doing what he had said he would in the heat of an angry moment six weeks ago. The fact that he was actually now carrying out his _promise_, seemed emotionless and hurtful more than anything. His own lover was getting married, and his little brother was giving Naruto his body to hush him up. It hurt. It hurt so much. "I'm making you mine. Tonight."

These years of frenemies status between them would never make this alright, Naruto didn't want to forgive, he wanted to be _angry_ and have his right to be _rightfully angry_. No sudden kissing could change the path of destruction they were on. They were too different, they hated each other, they fought, they couldn't communicate, and the list was endless! They could never be like this, not after all that heartache - it was too illogical - even for Naruto. "I don't want to be yours!"

Unfortunately for Naruto, Aoi was exactly as he had always been, frustrating and impossible to argue with, so he could have foreseen the casual answer he got. "Let your body decide that."

Naruto felt his nose burn, the corner of his eyes prickle with forthcoming tears. He couldn't betray Ichiro, it was wrong on so many levels. "I-I can't do this to him, please..."

"Why do you care!" Aoi's grip tightened with every word, "He is in Amegakure, with that woman! Think about yourself! You can't be with him!"

Meanwhile Naruto felt part of his mind break with every word. He didn't want to hear this. He didn't need to be reminded. His heart was already as damaged as they came. Was he really willing to live the rest of his life with a married man like Ichiro, being second always, unable to sleep in his bed at night, knowing that the children he would someday train in martial arts could be that man's offspring? No he probably couldn't. He knew that already now. He was alone. All alone.

"Why...don't you tell me. Why you care so damn much." Naruto shouted, finding the sudden strength in him to kick the other off of him. Yes, why. Why did Aoi have to always be on his case, pointing out his flaws, his weaknesses, forcing him out of shell, pressing all the right vital points to make him flip. Only this man, only he could...replace_ Ichiro_.

Aoi was on his feet, with a single pull he pulled the obi from his kimono, and slid the clothes off his body. Now fully naked, glistening in the faint light and just as hard as Naruto who remained stunned under glowing pools of red. "Don't cry..not for him." The words woke the blonde from his stupor. "Are you honestly asking, why I care? Are you that stupid?"

Naruto didn't know why he allowed it to happen, but the faint glow of read looking at him with such intensity made all thought of resistance futile. Why did it sound so much like begging, he couldn't fathom the meaning of the words. More than that, Naruto couldn't move either, something held him in place, it was Aoi's glowing eyes. "I won't allow it." Aoi said, and gazed at him in the weak candlelight. _Deep, deep, deep_ crimson pools spun for his inner eye, and his tears stopped flowing, as if to obey Aoi's command.

Aoi pulled the rest of the blonde's clothes off and Naruto did nothing, he only shivered as those blood-like drops of red eyed his now weeping, neglected erection, and then the dark-hair brushed against his thighs making him shiver in guilty pleasure as the other's lips came into contact with the taut flesh. "A-ahn."

Then the lips were gone, making Naruto's more rowdy and demanding side poke out its ugly head, at the obvious teasing gesture. "Stop tormenting me..!" Barely had he let out the words before lust-filled red eyes caught his. Made him feel so weak and burning, aching, dying to just be touched, any physical contact could make him feel better.

"You deserve it...it's your fault...You know nothing of the pain you've caused me." Aoi half groaned, half growled, as he pressed down, carefully easing himself in between the blonde's spread legs allowing Naruto to feel the sudden weight of the big, erect cock that grazed his own, more normal-sized appendage. "You made me like this." Entranced by the virility of the black wiry pubic hair in such contrast with the man's snow-white skin, he found himself unconsciously reaching out to feel the texture of those gravity defying black hairs so alike, Aoi's spiky hairstyle. Before he could touch a hand grabbed his.

"Couldn't you want me?" The voice was soft, suave, tantalizing to his ears.

Naruto hesitated. Saying he didn't want Aoi would be the biggest lie of his life. He did, he had fantasized about this bastard from the very beginning. But he couldn't accept this. Nothing felt right at all. Not Aoi, but everything. Naruto felt ashamed, undeserving of the man before him, who had secretly been wanting him as well. And then there was, Himeko, his sweet friend who loved this bastard as much as he did. "It's...not right."

The red eyes darkened with impulsive emotions, and the pink lips pulled tight, and all softness died away in that instant as he spread Naruto's legs wide, searching for the little ring muscle. He grabbed his own erection placed the head and the puckered entrance and nudged Naruto's opening, causing the blonde to arch and gasp at the sensation. "I guess this doesn't feel right at all then?"

"N-nh."Naruto couldn't phrase any coherent words, so he found himself reduced to shaking his head. He would soon regret his actions.

"In that case," The gentle nudging and probing had stopped, and the next thing he knew was that Aoi, pushed into him.

And Naruto shouted a string of obscenities.

The Uchiha's cock had penetrated his ass to the hilt, drawing a long pained cry from crying blonde beneath him. This was not the feeling of a sloppy erection, this was not the feeling of a dysfunctional penis, this was the searing, throbbing, unbending, hard cock of someone he hated and loved filling him, tearing at the now burning, bleeding insides of his ass with the intention of fucking him like an animal. "A-ah, kami-sama! That..h-hurts BASTARD-!"

"...you will learn to want me."

"Pull it out! Get it out of me!" The nerve-wrecking pain of intrusion had left him trembling violently and gritting his teeth so hard that his gums were starting to throb in pain from the pressure, he hardly noticed when his eyes had fallen on that eternally white stomach he had admired only a few times in his life, never would he have dreamt of seeing it so close up.

The pain persisted, but his mind was in a trance. He was looking at it like he was seeing it for the first time. It was now taking up the entire space between his still-trembling spread legs, moving - barely grazing Naruto's aching erection - rhythmically against him. Too dazed to look away, he let his eyes _trace, outline, define _those muscles rippling under that thin hard layer of snowy flesh, that made up the Aoi's beautiful solid stomach. Hardened and polished from battle, yet still so white and perfect, even with sweat dribbling over those straining muscles, tensing and relaxing, rippling and stirring, tensing and relaxing, rippling and stirring... perpetually.

With a low groan Aoi pulled out, slowly now and Naruto felt it, that penis in his ass could have easily pulled him further down on the futon if not for those strong hands holding his waist down. In place. He was stretched to the limit. Strong hands lifted, hoisted his waist up in the air. Then the stomach muscles rippled again as the dark-haired man thrust back into him - hard - Naruto was sure it had been too deep, too much for his body to handle, when he saw blackness for a moment, when he could see again, his body had curved backwards; his chest had shot up, hands - not his - supported his spine, by lifting him gently, and his legs were clenching around Aoi's waist, clinging onto the leftover sensation of pleasure, slowly dissolving.

Above him he saw the erotic view of Aoi, smirking down at him with slightly parted lips, breathing heavily and sweating enough to make those wisps of shiny black hair stick to his unblemished pale face that now sported dusted pink cheeks, and lust-filled onyx depths, that spoke to him in that arrogant manner. "I'll make you feel much better."

And before he could gather the will to protest, his body betrayed him, when those hands pulled him back in on that thick cock, touching that thing inside of him that made his body convulse so violently, and it continued to do so under the unsteady rhythm of Aoi's now animalistic pace.

"F-fuck.." Naruto's head had turned to the side, in an attempt to look away from the lust-inducing man before him. He felt a wetness trailing from the side of his mouth and became aware of it too late, he had been drooling at the duvet underneath. He couldn't think, his ass felt like it was being torn wide open but he couldn't stop moaning and drooling like a lifeless doll, except, his body was anything but lifeless, it reacted positively to everything Aoi did to him, and the Uchiha knew that very well.

Through the haze of his now dulling pain and inconceivable pleasure he felt himself being stroked at the same animalistic pace, his crush pounded him with. On top of him, Aoi was glistened in sweat, so much sweat that their bodies were gliding together effortlessly. The loud noise of flesh slapping against flesh became more subdued, muted even as the Uchiha bend down, loosening the hold on Naruto's waist so the other could move, and finally closing the gap between their wet bodies with a pace changed to the slower and ever-deeper rolls of his hips that finally gave Naruto the intimacy he longed for.

For the first time, Naruto looked at peace. He was moaning louder, and even bucking his own body upwards against the slick cock that slid in and out of him noisily, in hope that Aoi could just reach a little bit deeper with every thrust, that touched just deep enough to graze that little part of him, that had his toes curling and his body shaking, this also causing the other to in turn, grunt and moan lost in his own powerless pleasure, forgetting, time and place. Unable to focus on anything but that one movement.

"T-teme...deeper..." Naruto eyes had closed, his grunts grew louder and louder, making the dark-haired man smirk into nook of his neck as let go of the blonde's twitching manhood that now caught in between their stomachs, in favour of using both his hands to greedily cup the blonde's butt cheeks and as Naruto wrapped his legs around Aoi once again, in an attempt to angle himself just a tiny bit better because he was wanting, craving, begging Aoi to go deeper, with all his being, he clenched harder than ever before on the other's cock, in an effort to feel more, more _anything_.

"N-naruto! F-fuck..Not so tight, you're... squeezing... so hard."

The pace picked up, and Naruto clung on helplessly as the relentless thrusts began to aim deeper, becoming increasingly more unpredictable and wild, like earlier, only now, the pain was so dull that the pleasure that caused him to spasm was far greater than he had experienced anything before. Aoi was looking straight at him, brows furrowed a bit and eyes glazed over in bliss, and then just as he felt himself go rigid from the overload of sensations the coiling orgasm set in, making him spurt his essence between their bellies in furious strips of thick white, and he cried out in ecstasy, squeezing the still hammering cock in his ass without mercy, forcing his partner to give into his own inevitable release. Aoi was thrusting wantonly into the tightened ass and riding out the overwhelming wave of pure pleasure as he spilled his seed deep enough to draw a gasp of surprise from Naruto who was now nothing but a panting mess beneath the now stiffened body on top, quivering from the after-effects.

Neither of them could move as they laid there, meshed together into one entity, both breathing heavily and feeling too burnt out to move a finger. Naruto cracked an eye open, to see if this really was the real world or if he was dreaming. But the pain was very real, as was the pleasure.

The thick cock was still inside him as the man passed out on top of him, with his face buried in the nook of Naruto's neck. Aoi's breathing had evened out next to Naruto's flushed face and still parted lips. The other was still embedded in him, so deep, still taut and still thick. He finally understood the man who had hated him, despised him, ridiculed him. There was no brother complex, there was no problem with being impotent, there was no cool indifference towards Naruto, it was all a lie. A fake facade.

Right now, they were just two people secretly in love with one another, two men whose only means of communication was through their perpetual fighting. If only life had gifted both of them with more time together, perhaps even they, could have worked through their differences. It certainly would have spared his aching ass and the pain still embedded deep in that ass.

"Aoi..." He whispered softly, knowing the other couldn't hear him. "D-do you love me?"

He hugged the sleeping man, for the first time. Hugged him for real, and cried even in his drunken haze, his mind seemed clearer than ever, except for the weak thumping sensation of a headache, but that was no longer the only part of him that ached. Yet he didn't have the will, or heart to pull out the soft part of this man he loved, still connected with him so intimately. The warm weight, the sweat, his soaked ass and his thighs, his pounding heart, the smell of sex heavy all around, lulled him into a deep sleep, wrapped in the scintillating scent of his first love.

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I wont bring this into _this_ story, but if anyone want's a quick briefing of Itachi's past that I will go into in the spin-off fic Kokuyouseki, say so and I'll pm you. I say this because the other fic will be located in the ItaNaru fandom and will be biased towards Itachi/Ichiro, so some will likely not want to read pure ItaNaru, hence I can sum it up plot-wise for those who wants to see how it fits into Orenji.

Please leave a review :3

I'm awfully sorry if this came out crappy, I've...ahem...never written a real sex scene before, and I did want this to be a bit angry and bittersweet, so I hoped that it came out alright. Cursed be my limited vocabulary D:

Also excuse Sasuke/Aoi for being a bit rough etc, he hasn't been with a man before, so he doesn't actually know how to make Naruto feel good during penetration (preparation and foreplay,) so it was sort of on purpose that I wrote it like this. Naruto did end up feeling good either way but there is room for improvement. This seems a bit more realistic to me.

Before anyone asks, Kurama can't materialise in his own form unless Naruto experiences a powerful _negative_ emotion. I answered a reviewer on this question before so I figured I'd just clear that up if more people are wondering.

I'll leave it up to the future Sasuke to be more gentle with Naruto. Sasuke might want to rethink the making Naruto remember his past though.

Thanks to you guys

**Narutopokefan** (There isn't enough ItaNaru on hence it's easier for me to fave SasuNaru, which is more common xD)**  
Sora **(Aye, I dont see Ichiro or Itachi letting go of Naruto so soon. This chapter is Naruto dreaming and reliving the past in his mind, and Sasuke being "connected" with Naruto dreams the same dream only...it's from Aoi's perspective, so chew on that. And you guessed right, Kurama is weak against Ichiro, not Aoi/Sasuke. Why oh why oh why. Ichiro never got a bead. He got something else though.)**  
Rei **(Yay! Oh, u like Dei xD now I feel a bit guilty for kicking him out of Itachi's appartment. o.o. Ichiro seems a bit too perfect doesn't he, there must be something dark to him, wonder what it is.)**  
Killua17 **(I feel bad for leaving Sasuke clueless too, on what to do with Naruto that idiot.)**  
KyuuKitsunex3 **(Actually, Sasuke doesn't get 'molested' again, he does get mindfucked however, he saw the dream through Aoi's eyes. And Aoi...isn't so straight.)**ovicati**(Hahaha, I'm glad someone noticed the way I wrote it out was meant to be a bit humorous. Past Naruto is still too tame for my liking, I want him to be more carefree like present Naru, only time can change him.)

**shia naru **(Well, I guess he can't openly just go and snatch Naruto right up and 'take him' but he can definitely try charming his way into his pants if Sasuke doesn't do something about it.)**  
xXVioletRibbonXx **(Hey there, glad you like it so far :))**  
hananotsuki hime **(Will you think Aoi is a bitch in this chapter too I wonder. Hahah, yes, Dei got told to dip once Naruto entered the picture, didn't he...and Yes, Sasuke was really asleep when he hugged Naruto.)**  
skyglazingMaro.**(He is a whole lot wiser than his past life, in matters of love at least.)

Hime raised some questions through all the chapters, so I think I'll post some useful knowledge here.

_- Kurama can touch physical things, he is dependant on Naruto to be nearby, and yes he has an animal form and a human form. Both can vary in size. To be visible to humans, he must draw on the power of Naruto's emotions, like anger, that allows him to tap into Naruto and take over._

_- In a way Naruto IS the fox, so he is as old as his demon soul-friend. The Naruto you read about in the Memory Fragments is him, physical shape and everything. When he first awoke in the battlefield and met the Former Sasuke (Aoi Uchiha) he had just awakened Kurama within him, so they are not buddies or anything in that time period yet, this is why their relationship isn't portrayed as close as it is in the future._

_- Naruto may have been turned into a child at the beginning of the story, that is Kurama's powers too. However Naruto doesn't age past 21. That is why he wishes to become human. He can't live a normal life with the same people to the end, because his loved ones will age and die, and he will, live eternally young. _

_- Naruto does not remember his past life, he allowed Kurama to make him forget it all, the thing is, he has made Naruto forget several times. If Naruto remembers Sasuke... that means he will also remember everything else that has happened to him. Aoi, Ichiro, all of his past life. Which might not be a good thing. This is why the story never mentions Naruto thinking back on his past, because he knows he has forgotten it and he knows why he must NOT remember._

_- My original idea that made Naruto like this is the Korean and Chinese legends of the heavenly fox spirits (Gumihos). They were celestial beings, not meant to come into contact with humans due to their unnatural powers of attraction, magic and healing. As for the bead. That comes from these legends too. Some legends says a fox only gets 1 bead and that eventually they can retract the bead from the human they gave it to, but if they do, the human will die, others say they can attain a new every year, but I wont tell you which one Naruto is it could be a third option._

_- To become human some legends say that the Gumiho must eat 1000 livers of men, or live naturally among humans, in a loving relationship for a certain amount of years, to prove that the human is trustworthy and deserves their Fox partner. _


	12. Symbiosis

**Orenji****  
**_Written by_**F**_e_I**l**_a_**_n_**

**Preview Summary**:ツ When an Uchiha speaks, you listen. When an Uchiha offers their hand in friendship, you take it. When an Uchiha wants something, they will have it. So why does his foolish blonde dobe of a neighbour refuse him time and time again? The only logical answer - The boy must be crazy. SasuNaru, minor ItaNaru. Slightly homophobic!Sasuke (easier than denial).

**Extended Summary:**  
_  
__Prologue_  
Sasuke Uchiha is an eight year old boy, and antisocial loner, living a life of boredom with riches, a better-knowing brother and a father who is never home. One day new neighbours move in next to them and Sasuke decides to make his blonde neighbour his very first friend. However Naruto Uzumaki has something to say about that because he does not want any friends. Angered by his refusal he starts spying on the blonde and he quickly learns that his shy-looking, timid blonde dobe of a neighbour has many secrets to keep. Why does Naruto not go to school? Why is he always so pale? And is his snake-like bankrobber-guardian as evil as he looks or does it have something to do with Naruto's four-legged imaginary friend?

_After the prologue_  
The raven-haired Uchiha is in for more than he can handle, when he despite all odds manages to make friends with his dobe, but it all ends when Naruto mysteriously disappears, and only Sasuke remembers who Naruto is. Eight years later, the latest hot model Sasuke finds himself still thinking of the boy, until one day Naruto reappears. Too bad for Sasuke though, because Naruto has forgotten who he is. What is wrong with Naruto?

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Naruto Universe, or any part thereof.

**Warning**: No beta, heavy longwinded metaphors because the author is one confusing mess. Sasuke displays signs of being a control freak, egoist, narcissist, as well as having obsessive- and a possessive tendencies.  
**  
****Overall Warnings**: AU, Controlling!Sasuke, Demon!Naruto, Timeskip, Past lives and thousand year old fox demons. Memory lapses of Naruto's past life in the Ninja-verse. Don't read if you have a short attention span, the story is long and contains underlying plots, so turn around **if you can't handle something different.**

**A/N:** Hey all! Sora and Rei, my exams went well thank you : ] A long long headache but well, I have some peace for the next few days, _much needed_ peace. Haha. Ok so let's not talk about me. This chapter starts going more to Sasuke's point of view because...what the hell is that boy _thinking?,_ and Kurama will be playing a bigger role, yay. So ya, in my story the season will be autumn, around September, just to clarify, so Naruto's birthday the 10th of October will probably go into the story. Itachi's birthday in this story has been moved to the 10th of Oct as well - Again that has a symbolic meaning when linked to the past, ok I'll stop there before I say anymore...

Most of this chapter is mainly some light SasuNaru bonding as a preparation for what is to come. Warnings will be the same as last chapter (M), because of the short dream. Sasuke will be a moody bastard, and Naruto will be...Naruto, but with a little change, if any of you can guess what that may be, and what it means good for you. I intended to make it longer but, it would have roughly ended up in 20 k words perhaps so I thought I would have to cut it here...although I've never heard any complaints from readers about long chapters, who loves long chapters? ME, that's why I write them long, I always get sad when I find a half-decent story in terms of writing and then it's so short that I just feel so...unsatisfied..:(

Itachi, and a few other characters are likely to make an appearance in the next chapter, and there will be an upcoming photoshoot *hint *hint. Memories will probably be focused a bit around Sasuke for a while, and perhaps...Itachi, why? Because Spoiler IchiroMetNarutoWayBeforeAoi spoiler!

Warning, it's very very late for meso this will be full of flaws and spellies.

.

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_Sasuke - 9 years old -10 months after Naruto's disappearance._

His older brother Itachi had just smiled and nodded, holding tightly onto his small hand and taken him for a drive, when Sasuke had asked if they were going out for an ice-cream. At first there had been nothing suspicious about them driving past the first ice-cream parlour. After all it was the bland one with only twenty variants of tastes, and Sasuke always wanted a big scoop of that liquorice ice-cream at the house made of coloured glass in red and white, near the bathing lake.

It was undoubtedly the best place to go in the summer, and there was always lots of kids so Sasuke could spend a good half an hour licking his cone of black dripping liquorice whilst eyeing the annoying crowd of screaming kids, charging into the water or using the swing to throw themselves in like a bomb. It was enough time for Sasuke to search for that familiar head of blonde hair.

One of these days he would find Naruto, he just knew it. The blonde boy couldn't have run that far, his legs were shorter than Sasuke's! And Sasuke had only managed to run to the north side of the city when he had decided to run away to find Naruto. The only problem was that he had forgotten to inform his family of the little trip. It had been exciting but none of it went too well when there was a police car driving up and down every possible street looking for him. His father didn't understand his desire to find his friend and was very upset with Sasuke for going out alone, his old man needed to calm down it had only been two days Sasuke wasn't stupid or anything, he had brought lots of candy from the cupboards along in his bag, as well as some instant noodles for Naruto so he wasn't starving.

Itachi had been worried and told him that candy wasn't a good substitute for real food but otherwise, he had said nothing to show any outwards negative response to Sasuke's concern for Naruto. Itachi was his only support these days and Sasuke could spend hours talking about Naruto.

"Brother? Is this a new place?" Sasuke chirped elatedly on the backseat, next to Itachi who forced a smile, but otherwise couldn't make himself respond to his sweet baby brother, not after seeing those hopeful obsidian eyes look at him so naively. "Hn."

That seemed to be enough of an indication for Sasuke who impatiently freed his hand and opened the car door. Cautious enough to not hit his foot on the curb of the pavement, Sasuke got out and looked around the neighbourhood. In front of him was a big white building, and the area looked sort of dead, aside from the major parking lot on the side where the back entrance to Konoha Hospital was. Where were all the children? And colourful stores?

Sasuke glanced around nervously as he was led through the heavy entrance, consisting of a heavy double-door made of mahogany. The whole place was giving him the creeps and the scowl that had taken form on his brother's unmarred face clued him. Itachi didn't like this place either, so he braved himself to draw his brother's attention with a puzzled face. "Itachi?"

"Soon, Sasuke." The hand that grabbed his was stiff and a bit forceful. Sasuke let himself be dragged further down the narrow white hallway reluctantly as he skimmed the many closed doors, and saw the name plates in silver and gold placed outside each. Sasuke normally liked clean, but this was different. There was a funny iodine smell in the air, and the floors were too clean, too _white_, actually, _everything_ was too white, too _sterile_, too, _too_ much. Even after their maid had been using too many cleaning products, it never smelled this bad at home. Sasuke pinched his nose with his free hand, and gave his brother a dark look, but Itachi had stopped. "We're here."

Sasuke looked up, his feet had taken him forward almost automatically, but it took all he had in him to not rip his arm free and run back to the front door and out in the open and flee. This place scared him and the white office he was pulled into was the same, the most colourful thing was the dark brown carpet under a black desk, and the person behind the desk had stood up to exchange a few words with his brother.

"You can come back in two hours, Uchiha-san. I'll bring your brother to the entrance." The lady said and turned to face Sasuke. Itachi's hand had disappeared and Sasuke felt the lady grab his shoulder as he turned to look where his brother had gone to, but the door had already closed. Sasuke sharply dodged the hold and shrunk back against the closed door trying to grasp the handle, but the door was locked and he was now alone - with this weird woman.

"You must be Sasuke, right?" The brown-haired lady, had sharp brown eyes and her wide mouth and thin lips were pulled into an even wider curved line, it looked almost as if she had no lips, but Sasuke could tell it should have been a smile. It looked nothing like it though. " There is no reason to be scared, Sasuke. I'm Dr. Egami, and I will be your psychiatrist from today on."

When Sasuke just glared and refused to respond with any polite pleasantries, the shrink continued in her phony sweet tone, with an irremovable smile planted on her face. "Why don't you take a seat over here, I have some nice cold water too if you'd like." If Sasuke had seen the devil he was sure he would be less frightening than this dreadful woman. "We could talk a bit about your unique friend as well. And those...imaginative stories you've told the police. I heard they were, quite _amazing_."

Sasuke had always known he was special, because he possessed a wide range of desirable qualities and traits that other kids his age couldn't possibly dream of measuring up, even as adults, but being a _crazy deranged compulsive liar_ wasn't one of them. He couldn't believe his father was actually doing this to him, and why had Itachi just left like that, did he think Sasuke had problems as well?

Never on any occasion in his life had he considered himself to belong to the category of the mentally ill, but he was sure now that if anything could drive him crazy it would be this hideous, brunette in her long white uniform, bending down in front of him with an outstretched hand and her darned, constant, fake sugary smile spread across her thin, crooked lips. Sasuke felt sick, very sick. He looked around frantically, eyes darting around the office looking for something that could help him. Nothing came up. Everything from the sterile white floors, walls, and overall surfaces in the building and her office was a thorn in Sasuke's eyes. He really did not want to touch this lady. He did not want to be stared at this way, by those dead eyes. He wanted to go home right NOW!

"Psychiatrist? There's nothing wrong with me! Let me out!" Sasuke felt the panic rise in him, when she made no attempt to open the door, the alarm in him set off, and his voice gained in power. "BROTHER! BROTHER! COME BACK! LET ME OUT OF HERE!"

Sasuke knew how these nutty people worked, all of them were the same. Acting all cheerful and friendly with you, giving you their long dreary drivel talk about how they were wanting to be your friend and that they only wished to help you. None of them actually gave a damn about people. Who did this pretentious bitch think she was? Sasuke never asked for any of their fucking help!

"Calm down, your brother will be back in a few hours, after we have had a nice long talk, here let me help y-" As she grabbed his hand, Sasuke withdrew violently from the touch as if it had burned him.

"DON'T. FUCKING. TOUCH. ME." Sasuke barked out every word in the most threatening tone his childish voice could muster. Why couldn't this horrible woman understand and just let him out?! Was she mentally challenged herself aside from being sickeningly disgusting or just plain fucking DEAF?!

His breathing had picked up in pace and his chest was starting to cramp. Something was wrong, but he couldn't think, he felt too upset, too distraught. It was too much, everything combined. He felt, betrayed. Utterly _betrayed_.

This was not good.

Still trying to reach out and grab him, the evil witch began. "I think we should- ...Look you need to calm down boy or I will have to call a nurse." Sasuke wanted to fight but he felt so terribly weak and he couldn't calm his body, it was hyperventilating.

_'Help me Naruto...please come back.._' Sasuke sunk to the floor like a bag of potatoes, breathing rapidly, non-stop and then he lost consciousness.

- _Memory fragment_

* * *

**.**

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**Orenji  
**Ch. 12  
- Symbiosis

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* * *

_Insanity? Didn't feel so far-fetched right now._

_Sasuke's brain didn't fully function and something was terribly wrong with his body, he couldn't control it, but he could feel everything. It made him unsteady to be stuck like this. His lower body was held in place by something, enveloping him - it was making him gasp for air like he was somehow drowning - suffocating in pleasure he had no control of. Intense pleasure that was now wrecking through his whole body like a wildfire and the uneasiness of this strange hallucination was chased, torched, burned away with the steady rhythm of heaven he felt when he pressed forward._

_Something was wrong with him but the constant oversensitivity kept him in a continuous high of bliss, powerless to cease his actions he looked for answers from his surroundings. He realised then, that he must have closed his eyes, because when he cracked them open his breath caught and beneath him a familiar body was writhing, twisting, curving with his pace. The body glistened with sweat from what could only be, a lengthy intense love making, his mind however failed to register exactly who it was and the voice in the back of his mind coaxed, persuaded, seduced him to let go of all those stressful, prodding questions that had piled up, like a string of tasks causing an old computer to freeze._

_And he saw. For the first time he really saw._

_"F-fuck.." The person groaned as Sasuke rammed into him. It was a man. A man he was pounding into the bedding mercilessly. It was a man that made his body feel like this - feeling good enough to make him lose control. Something in him protested strongly against this realisation, until he saw that familiar face. Sasuke knew this man._

_The most dazzling vivid blue eyes, that could only belong to one person, were glazed over and empty. Lifeless. Unlike the smooth tan body that clung to Sasuke as if his life depended on it._

_It was Naruto._

_He still didn't understand or comprehend, but that hardly mattered, nothing mattered anymore, he just felt so good. His body instinctively thrust harder to comply to the ravenous craving for more skin, more heat, more friction, it was like a chant in his mind, playing over and over. It was never enough, he couldn't stop now even if he wanted. With a strangled cry he pushed into the tight enveloping heat, deeper than before, and god was it hot and tight. Sasuke never registered till now that it was his own voice that came out in raspy moans mixed with the groans of Naruto below him._

_The low grunts and noises sounded a bit painful but turned utterly exciting to his ears. His hazy mind finally picked up on the source of that strange wet sound. It was his cock that was making those wet sounds, as he rode the compliant body beneath him. For some reason, even after feeling all this evident pleasure he hadn't quite understood the implication of it all. What it meant. Now just as Naruto tightened around his cock, and what little sanity and rationality was left to hold him back, instantly vaporized, in the wave of need he couldn't fathom. He did._

_He was having sex with, Naruto._

_It was Naruto's legs that wrapped themselves around him and drew him closer, it was Naruto who made these sweet noises whenever their bodies collided in noisy smacks of clammy tan impaled on pale white. And then as if his friend's mind had awoken from a long sleep, blue eyes darted up, wide open, focused and so full of life. Naruto's vivid blue was looking straight at him with a chastened light in them, as if the blonde was pleading him. To do something._

_"T-teme...deeper..." The blonde begged, and his eyes closed. Sasuke winced as he felt the blonde tighten, clench, wriggle and squeeze as if trying to suck him in - further into whatever this tight delicious hole was._

_His body wanted this. No, it needed this._

_This was the feeling of Naruto. His Naruto._

_Was this how it felt like to be raving fucking mad?_

.

* * *

.

It was eight in the morning when the blonde had woken up for the third time still feeling the nasty hangover, like a splitting pain he had never experienced before, because Naruto never had hangovers, Kurama made sure of that. Now though he was starting to really appreciate the comforting presence of the copper-haired fox in the back of his mind.

After spending majority of the night hugging the sleeping raven he finally managed to untangle himself and half-heartedly turn around to crawl back on the other side, facing the wall, away from Sasuke. This happened few times through the night actually. Not just once.

Naruto cursed inwardly. He should have known that following the urging of his common sense that warned him against going to Sasuke's bedroom, while the other wasn't awake, had been the right thing to do, instead he had allowed his own impulses to overtake him and those usually backfired. Today was a perfect example of that.

Admittedly, Sasuke's kingly bed was a thousand times better than that poor excuse for a bed that had been placed in the guest room - Naruto's room. What he hadn't expected though, was being used as a human-sized body pillow. Naruto would have never dared or considered pinning the adjective _cuddly_ on Sasuke since the boy seemed to detest most physical contact and made a great show of avoiding it when he could, however out of lack of a better explanation for this excessive clingy nature that Sasuke demonstrated in his more vulnerable sleeping state, Naruto decided that it fit just right.

Blue eyes narrowed groggily as an arm crept around his body and before he could edge away or react to it, he found himself being pulled back towards Sasuke's warm body. It felt so sinfully good to be held close this way. Under normal circumstances Naruto wouldn't have given any thought to this particular behaviour did he not fear the reaction his friend would have the moment he woke up to see an unwelcome visitor who had snuck into his bed.

Almost a bit too sure, Naruto could only come to the conclusion that Sasuke was too damn shy to deal with and that made the strong arms wrapped all the way around his upper body pulling him back flush against the sleeping body behind him, a problematic affair. Naruto had several times woken up this morning and attempted to push away because he didn't want to scare Sasuke if the other boy suddenly woke up and thought they had done a repeat of yesterday's embarrassment. Naruto would go crazy if that bastard locked himself inside this room all day long again. So, he had planned to sneak out and crawl back to his own bed before Sasuke even noticed he was here, as fate would have it though, he should have executed that plan two minutes ago, because now he was stuck.

At first Sasuke had just been hugging him tightly and Naruto couldn't really find it him to push the arms away, but then Sasuke had pressed closer. Then closer, and finally a tiny bit closer. Now Naruto was tense and afraid to make any sudden movements as the warm breath continued brushing against the sensitive part of his nape causing spontaneous shivers to crawl down his spine, and teasing him to now end. Next it was his hair that tingled as Sasuke buried his face in it, with a deep breath ending in a sigh of bliss. Naruto's eyes were wide as he felt Sasuke inhale and exhale deeply, practically sniffing his hair, and that was when Naruto finally knew that he was screwed, because pressed against his backside and only separated by their boxers was Sasuke's hard-on poking him.

Semi-frozen in shock Naruto covered his mouth with the backside of a hand to not make a sound.

Sasuke was shifting and rubbing against his ass every few seconds. Naruto gulped anxiously, and from the feeling of things the package was bigger than average. He mentally berated himself for thinking such things. Naruto liked men, a lot actually, but this was just, not good. Sasuke and him weren't even close friends yet, and definitely not close enough for this type of friendly teasing. Naruto had jerked off with an old gang-mate of his, he had even considered perhaps being slightly in love with the guy, but they were so tight that there was nothing awkward about it afterwards. This was different. Sasuke was Itachi's little brother. Sasuke was _off-limits_.

Naruto knew that well, but what could he do in a situation like this when Sasuke- _Sweet-fucking-! Right in the spot..._

At first it had been nothing more than a soft prodding sensation, little comfort was it for Naruto though, knowing that without their underwear, the tip would have been rubbing against his entrance. Sasuke's arms tightened and lips latched onto his exposed neck. Naruto fought with all he his willpower to not push himself off and bed and run out of the room like he was caught on fire. Sasuke could wake up any minute and beat the shit out of him!

A grinding fest began and Naruto decided right then and there - after swallowing one of many groans - that Sasuke had to be an incubus put here on earth as an obstacle he had to overcome. Searching his mind for several disgusting images he could come up with to calm his slowly awakening bulge, was harder than it seemed, especially considering that it was 'I'm-straight' Sasuke-bastard. Eventually his hand starting hurting, because he was biting into it to distract himself. Several images of old hags in swimsuits and even Tsunade and Jiraiya did no wonders for him, and just as he was about to give up and touch, it stopped.

The raven stilled after one more deep thrust and the body pushed against his trembled ever so slightly, and the breath on his neck was coming out in soft pants. Meanwhile Naruto tried his best to ignore the warm wetness that spread through thin fabric, wetting the backside of his boxers. The arms loosened, and Naruto quickly untangled himself and fixed the other side of the bed before rushing out, praying to whatever higher power there existed that Sasuke would just continue to sleep a little longer.

Outside in the safety of the dark hallway, he balled a fist against the wall and dragged it as he padded to the bathroom with a storm cloud over his head. Naruto sighed against the bathroom door now that he was far enough away from the bedroom and quickly discarded the wet boxers, before stumbling into the shower and turning on the cold water to shock his still burning body. It took a few minutes but eventually his problem died down, and he had somewhat managed to detach himself from the happening.

At least he hadn't seen Sasuke's face when he... did that, or Naruto feared he would have had a more real problem. No. Desiring straight men was above him, there was enough gay people in this world to pick from. Instead of making things weird between them, Naruto would be more friendly with the Uchi-...Sasuke. Perhaps even help the sexy bastard find himself a cute girl. Which he should have no problem with if it wasn't for his depressing attitude, as far as Naruto had gathered.

Sasuke wasn't beyond saving, the raven had been really nice to pick him up yesterday actually, and for some reason Sasuke hadn't reacted too badly when had Naruto clung to him. Something about the other reminded him of...Kurama. Or something along those lines. That was probably why sleeping near Sasuke had seemed like the best solution for his restlessness.

Naruto tried not to remind himself of the disappointment and embarrassment he had felt with Itachi. He had gotten himself so completely utterly wasted and probably said a lot of embarrassing things. The blonde cringed at the thought. This was the first time he had gotten so drunk, and he never got drunk. Ever. If only his old gang could see him now, they'd think he was a laughing stock for going under. He hoped Itachi didn't look down on him now.

Something about Itachi had changed, and Naruto couldn't quite put his finger on it but aside from the weird attracting lure he felt oozing off the man like a hook and chain wrapping around his senses whenever the other was near, there was something darker that bothered the innermost part of him, the part he didn't remember, but how could he possibly have met Itachi before. Itachi didn't live in Naruto's last lifetime or Kurama would have recognised the other already eight years ago and told him. (1)

Checking himself out in the mirror whilst brushing teeth caused him to grimace and reach up to pull a strand of gravity defying blonde hair. It was getting a bit long again, as were his nails for that matter. Just last week he had chopped off a good length of his hair but this cursed body grew it at an unnatural rate that had most hairdressers raising their eyebrows at him, so he switched salon frequently when he hadn't been reduced to trimming it himself. Which he would soon need to do now.

He had to hurry and find a part time job so he could afford himself some proper grooming and perhaps some more of that ramen from that shop Sasuke knew. Come to think of it, why did Sasuke know Naruto's favourite food? Stop. Stop. Stop. No more thinking of Sasuke.

Perhaps he really should find himself a girl too, his last relationship had been a disaster but that had ended a good two years ago. Yes, a relationship seemed like a good distraction. Naruto's problem was always about, finding the right girl that..

_'You're not going to date some slutty girl again, are you_?' The intruding voice flooded his mind and Naruto almost choked on the cup of water he was rinsing his mouth with, when another reflection appeared in the mirror.

Kurama gave him a sceptic look in the mirror, his crimson eyes were flickering dangerously but he didn't give Naruto that reassuring pat on the arm, or shoulder that usually put the blonde's troubles to rest, and gave him that familiar feeling of _rightness_. It pissed Naruto off, because Kurama knew how lonely he felt at night, and now his friend, who had been gone for two days and who was closer to Naruto than any family could ever be, refused to touch him. Part of him felt painful, empty and hurt. Then came the boiling anger, thick and still expanding, with each embarrassing moment that could have been avoided, fresh in his memory.

"Why did you bail out on me last night?!" Naruto growled, spitting out the remaining water and toothpaste in the sink before turning to face the other. Kurama backed away further, making Naruto instinctively draw closer. This visceral connection they had, drew Naruto closer, distance equalled pain - mind-blowing pain that riled him up and left him in tatters. It was almost weird how he hadn't felt any pain last night when Kurama had been gone. "I actually got fucking _drunk_ after two glasses of some mixed drink, that's when I knew you were messing with me! I had zero tolerance!"

_'It wasn't my fault! You blocked contact with me the moment you sought out Uchiha Itachi, I couldn't neutralize the alcohol_.' The redhead looked furious as he leaned against the door, keeping his distance from Naruto, taunting and teasing him when he knew Naruto felt weak and empty. _'Besides you seemed to enjoy a rather comfy sleep with that younger Uchiha boy so why do you need me?'_

The door was pulled open and Kurama walked to the guestroom with hasty steps forcing a swaying Naruto to follow. Dressed in nothing but the towel hanging loosely around his waist, he tried to keep their distance at a minimal.

_Now_ it was painful.

"Come back...Kura for fucks sake..." Naruto's head pulsed and ached and all strength seeped from his muscles, like a slow-acting numbing poison had entered his blood-circulation, he quickly traced Kurama's steps and entered his room.

All that remained in him was the coiling anger and desperation he had been _pushed_ into. "Stop walking away from me! You KNOW I need you!" Naruto had to lean on the panel of the now closed door, breathing heavily whilst rubbing his temples.

_'Stop yelling, you will wake up lover-boy in there_.' Kurama stood somewhere in front of him but the last of his energy had drained and his body felt like it was made of plutonium.

"It's not like that." Naruto insisted, but the guilt he now felt left a bad taste in his mouth. Either it was that or Sasuke's spearmint and fluoride toothpaste had a nasty aftertaste. God how could it be so hard to even clear his head and think. "I don't intend to get close to him. Not like _that_ at least...but he is lonely, like I was...Please...just touch me already."

If he didn't know any better than to think Kurama capable of a petty feeling such as jealousy, he might have not felt guilt. If the other was bothered by his relationship with Sasuke, Naruto knew, sadly, that he would likely be ready to drop any contact with the boy that was how deeply he trusted Kurama's judgement. That didn't stop him from assessing, what threat the other saw that Naruto didn't.

_'Kit._' Kurama pushed off the wall and leaned down in front of him, letting his long pale fingers spread wide over Naruto's sternum and clawing gently at the taut tan flesh. When he spoke his voice was a mere whisper, and the red eyes were close to his face. '_You have no idea what you have done, do you_?'

"Enlighten me then." Naruto managed to word as he shivered in bliss, relief washing over him from the tips of the digits digging into his chest. He felt so _right_ again as he leaned into the touch. Complete. _Whole_. Alive. How could he have possibly gone days without Kurama? He didn't know it was possible, _till now_. They had never been apart for so long before. Naruto's head dropped on the other's chest and he wrapped his arms around the familiar body, soaking in the familiar aura of strength that he lacked, and the other was so full of. "Aren't you the one who always says I'm slow in the uptake anyways?"

_'Because you are._' A hand stroked his back in comforting circles, massaging and kneading his sore muscles back to strength. '_Your presence is dangerous. That kid in the other room, he was influenced by your memories_.' Kurama's smooth voice made his head feel funny and his skin was prickling. '_You mustn't remember_,_ it would damage you. He triggers those memories within you therefore he is a threat_.'

"A threat...but how is that even possible that my memories can influence him? It has never happened before. And slow down you are going way too fast." Naruto could feel his breath coming more easily now, so he pulled away slightly, face mere inches from Kurama's, but he didn't break contact, he was afraid to. Never again. "What do you mean by that? Triggers them?"

_'It shouldn't be, unless..._' Kurama's eyes narrowed as if weighing the truth and how much to tell '_His soul knows yours, you are making him remember a life he finished living an aeon ago. He saw himself in your memories so you need to keep your distance before he realises that they are _not_ just fantastic dreams with no meaning. _No more_ physical contact with him or his brother. Is that understood?_'

"I can't just...avoid them." Naruto said, not bothering to nitpick the other's words, since he doubted he would get more information even if he pressed now. It was an intriguing thought though to think that he might have met Sasuke and Itachi before. Were they his friends? Or enemies? How did they look, and were their personalities the same. Interesting questions really, but reincarnated souls that knew his past self had nothing to do with who he was now. As Kurama would have surely reminded him had he bothered asking.

'_Is that understood_?' The voice urged him as crimson eyes held blue in place. _'It is for your own good_. _It is my damn responsibility to make sure you don't go suicidal._'

"Fine, I will try...and I know." Naruto said lower than a whisper. The blonde didn't usually question his friend's reasons, he could feel Kurama inside of him again, and it made him feel guilty knowing he had ignored his closest family. All Kurama had done was loved and cared for him. Naruto had no one else in his life, and probably, the past was the same. Just him and Kurama, Sasuke and Itachi might've just lived near him, just because their souls knew each other's didn't mean they had to have been close in any sense of the word. All he really did need was Kurama. Without his redhead, Naruto felt like he couldn't be_ Naruto _anymore. It scared him still. The thought of Kurama just suddenly disappearing from his mind like he had.

Feeling his anxiousness, Kurama changed his demeanour to a more light-hearted one, he had accepted the blonde's words, Naruto understood and that was all that mattered. '_You had better...if you want cuddles_.'

That earned him a soft punch in the stomach from the blonde teen. "Fuck you, that isn't fair. I should really just find a girl."

_'You know they will never be able to sate you_.' Kurama chuckled in his I-know-all-your-secrets tone as he held Naruto's head in place pushing their foreheads together softly. _'But if you want to play the part of a rebellious teenager, go ahead and try. Just warn me before you decide to do anything nasty and I'll block you out._'

Naruto said nothing and just basked in the lightness of the touch, as reached up to let his fingers trace the familiar delicate jaw. Each touch clearing his mind from all of all repressed memories of the pain he had felt some minutes ago, like it had never happened. It was then that Naruto found himself asking. "How many times?"

_'How many times what..._' The words formed, and Naruto felt their foreheads still touching, but Kurama's breath didn't touch him. It never did. _'I told you I don't make a habit of reading into your thoughts. If I did Satan help me. I might be sucked into a big black hole_.' The other let out a low cackle.

"How many times have I been _seventeen_." He stressed the word, slightly annoyed at the other taking jabs at him.

_'Fourteen times_,' Kurama sighed separating their bodies carefully, still unsure of how Naruto's body would deal. Stretching their bond had been fatiguing for the blonde, but drastic measures were needed to make Naruto see reason sometimes.'_...fourteen times have I reared you from your baby form. It is no easy task to turn you into a responsible adult and re-teaching you the same things over and over again. You're a knucklehead, always have been, and always will be_._'_

"Come on, I learn pretty fast, I get it you are still angry with me." Naruto said with a grin, before finally detaching himself from other. With a roll of his shoulders he tried to focus his strength to heat up the air around him which almost sizzled in instant response. Relieved to find that his body was back to its normal strength, he cut off the channelling.

_'No and don't waste all the chakra. Your own should flow normally again by tomorrow._' Kurama said with a smug smile, as blue eyes snapped up.

"What do you mean by no?" Naruto asked with a semi-glare and the boy's sky-blue irises blazed with electrifying energy.

The other huffed. '_I'm not talking about teaching you all that pathetic human stuff, anyone can learn that. I'm talking about those ingrained Namikaze traits that make you behave so irrationally_.'

"That's rich. If I turn out the same way every time doesn't the fault lie with you and not my blood?" Naruto shot back, challenging his guardians beliefs. Bugging and riling Kurama up was one of his past time pleasures, his friend took things very personally.

'_Oh believe me. I've been very patient with you. One thing you would always fail at was self-control, you never quite knew when to stop or give up. You balk at the very idea of it and like a stubborn little monster you just push and you push and you push till you get your will, as if you'd settle for nothing less to begin with_.' Kurama divulged, accusing red eyes never leaving his. It was almost as if the redhead was trying to vent a thousand years of frustrations in thirty seconds.

Already regretting his provocation, Naruto turned and rolled his eyes. "Not this again."

Kurama had no intention of stopping with that though. _'Another flaw is your double-edged sword. Your empathy for your opponents is boundless, so what do you do? On one hand you refuse to give up and lose the battle and on the other you encourage your enemy to stand up and fight - to win, you obviously can't both win yet you always look for some type of compromise, you know how that ended?'_

'_The guy fled because you wouldn't finish him off and there was no way you could lose to begin with! Even he was smart enough to understand that, hence he ran for his life. I've never had a dumber or more naive host than you, your logic is fucked up and frustrating to deal with. Clearly multiple lives could never change this, it must be some inborn flaw with you Namikaze. A hopeless case of Knucklehead-syndrome is what it is. The world isn't fucking sunshine and butterflies_.'

Naruto took a seat on his bed, with a sulk marring his handsome face. "I'm not a knucklehead... You make me sound so horrible. And when the hell was this a problem? Hundreds and hundreds of years ago? Look at the bright side of things. It's a peaceful world we're living in now so I probably won't be fighting for my survival anytime soon." Naruto countered, needing some time to lick his wounds. Sometimes Kurama's stories about him, made him want to just find a hole and dig himself down. It was embarrassing. "You can be such a parent sometimes. Then again, you are not. A normal parent wouldn't insist on their child killing people. There _are_ other solutions sometimes."

_'It's called self-defence_. _Danger doesn't stop existing just because you choose to remain ignorant_.' Kurama commented snidely, and with a leap he straddled a frowning Naruto on the bed, leaning over the blonde playfully.

Blonde brows furrowed defiantly as he corrected his red haired beast of a guardian. "It's called murder when it could have been avoided."

A low laughter came from the redhead as his pale skin glowed, and smoothened. The sculpted face of the adult Kurama softened in the edges and a youthful smirk replaced the sly grin. No bigger than Naruto, the younger-looking and more mischievous Kurama shifted on top of him, pressing their bodies close.

_'When we first met. You were under me like this. At the sweet ripe age of seventeen_.' The other male murmured adoringly above him, with a soft dreamy sigh as he reminisced nostalgically to himself. The softer sweeter eyes of deep ruby twinkled affectionately in a face of pure serenity, that completed the demon's guise as an angel. '_You were as good as dead, and even if you weren't you would have soon joined your dead family, but I stopped you. To you it may have just been a way to cling onto life, sanity, and a frail hope for a future, but I keep my promises. So I gave you a life. I gave you mine_.'

Naruto remained motionless, unwilling to break the tranquil sensation of harmony that sedated his senses like an overpowering drug. Just like this was good. No deep thoughts, no complicated feelings and no tangible sensations to decode. He couldn't remember the last time Kurama had held him like this, but surely, those eyes of the shiniest ruby were ablaze just for Naruto, pulsing like a heartbeat that sent flares and ripples of light and shadow into his lonely soul.

He wasn't truly lonely.

'_I really don't care for humans, Naruto_.' A faint smile grazed the self-indulgent, mischievous copper-haired boy, but Naruto didn't see that, his lashes had already fluttered shut. '_If it makes you feel better. Know that your father was the same as you, that is why people liked him, and sadly envied him as well. His kind heart and the trust in his fickle human friends was his downfall, I will not allow it to be yours_.'

Naruto's soft breathing was only response he got.

'_That human boy saved you from his brother, and I'm not as ungrateful as you think me_.' Kurama whispered to the sleeping blonde, letting his lips hover over Naruto's - dangerously close. '_I'll give your friend one day with the real you, Naruto._'

Supple met velvety.

.

* * *

.

Strangely, it was too quiet when obsidian eyes opened and he absentmindedly stared at the cream-coloured ceiling, as if he was still dreaming. Sasuke blinked a few times, and then pulled the duvet up over his head, making it dark. Dark because in the dream it had been night and the only source of light had been a candlestick. But it had been enough to see the person he had dreamt of. Sasuke's face felt hot as he breathed against the duvet cloaking his embarrassment.

After a good ten minutes of battling his brain's stress signals that made his body go through a session of different reactions as follows; Glaring, flexing, curving, frowning, cringing, chewing the insides of his cheeks, biting his lips, cringing a bit more and pinching himself hard. When that didn't work he had to resort to more drastic measures. He slapped his cheek, optimistically - and uncharacteristically - awaiting a reaction that could magically make everything _make more sense_.

He finally managed his first somewhat rational reflection that was part of his usual morning routine. To check his phone.

So he did.

The screen was black, and remained black even after _one, two, three_ presses on the home button, with the same result. Then his fingers instinctively repeated the same with the on/off button before he could finally conclude. His phone was out of juice. With a sigh of exasperation, he dropped the stupid thing and went back to staring at the ceiling, but only for a brief moment this time. The sudden movement when he had lunged for his phone had caused his boxers to stretch earlier. It wasn't till now however that he noticed that the front part of the satin fabric clung to his skin uncomfortably, and that there was sticky fucking reason for that.

_Fuck._

"Don't think, don't think, don't think." He chanted inside his head - unaware that he also spoke it -, and propped himself up into a sitting position, tearing the duvet off and standing up. He then pulled the soiled underwear off with a swift fluid movement making sure to keep the clothing article as far away from the rest of his body as humanly possible, whilst still holding onto the dry part of the elastic band at the hem, till he rediscovered his laundry basket.

A noise near his door made him jump back in bed naked, frantically fighting to cover himself. After a few nervous glances at the door, and no attempts from the blonde dobe to barge in, he slowly unwrapped himself and went to quickly find his dressing gown - which he threw on - and a clean set of clothes.

With a last look around his room, for any evidence of his _not so_ uneventful night and morning, Sasuke at last braced himself and opened the door tentatively, taking the time needed to peek out at the empty hallway, trying not to run to the bathroom, but he practically did.  
.

* * *

.  
"Dobe."

The PlayStation had been pulled out and carelessly left on the floor out in the open where anyone could step on it. On the sofa the familiar blonde mop of spiky hair sat completely swallowed up by the battle cries, punches and special sound effects, and was eagerly punching away at the controller so absorbed in fact that he didn't turn to acknowledge the presence of the glaring danger behind him. Sasuke was now dressed in a casual attire, consisting of a grey jeans and a dark blue over-the-head hoodie, ready for a relaxing Sunday with the book of the week under his arm and a glass of lemon water in the other hand, but from the looks of it that wasn't happening. Sasuke debated on whether to accidentally spill the glass of water on the blonde head, - like he was really tempted to do for some reason - or continue with his original approach.

"Dobe...stop getting chunks of dried in toothpaste stuck in the sink, it's nasty."

The blonde jumped in surprise and instantly spun around with a huge bubbly grin covering his ridiculously gorgeous face, a notion that made Sasuke grumble. Part of Sasuke had considered that Naruto had pointedly ignored him, but was pretty sure that his retarded roommate wasn't conniving enough to think up ploys like that.

"You're such a sleepyhead." Naruto smiled, looking surprisingly happy for someone who should be having a hangover still. "It's good that you're here. Let's try multiplayer! Come and sit here with me!" He made a show of patting the seat new to him like one would do when encouraging their cat or dog to jump up for a cuddle. Sasuke just stared at him like he had grown a second head.

Sasuke looked at the TV screen with discerning eyes and boldly stated. "I don't own this game."

Naruto laughed genuinely. "Well duh, it's mine. I did bring some possessions you know, and I like Ninjas so-"

"Hn, whatever." Sasuke said disinterestedly, cutting off Naruto as he turned on his heel, intending to go for his secondary spot of peace - the study - since the living room was taken. Hearing the blond half repress an annoyed sigh, he felt a small jab of guilt. He'd like to blame it on the horrendous sound effects and the annoying clicking noise of the controller, but he really just wanted to be as far away from Naruto as he could right now.

It was plain obvious that he had spent too much of his weekend with the wake of trouble Naruto had brought with him, and it had somehow, messed with Sasuke's head. In subconscious ways. He couldn't allow himself to become more confused, honestly. Having a wet dream of Naruto? This was so awkward.

"I can teach y-Wait..! Where are you going?" The blonde called after him. Sasuke didn't look back, he was sure Naruto would be looking like a kicked puppy.

"Away from you." With his back turned Sasuke never noticed the small smile that tugged at his lips form, when he heard Naruto scrambled off the couch to follow him.

"Teme! Don't be like this. You've been spending too much time alone, we should go out and do something together, right?" Naruto had caught up to him, still with that damned smile of his like he was too dumb to understand when to take offense. A small piece of Sasuke actually listened, and clung on to every word the blonde said, and he not only hated that the idea didn't actually sound all that bad to him, but also that he still regarded Naruto as important enough to be heard. Consequently he did the only thing he managed to do right. Walking away, before he would snap and say more hurtful things he didn't really mean.

Sasuke made kept his eyes on the floor as Naruto entered the study.

Unfortunately this older Naruto was not as demure and inadequate as little Orange had been, this was a whole other Naruto, one that fiercely provoked him and forced him to speak louder, feel more, and do more. It could only be unintentional but the actuality remained, Naruto grated on his nerves, but, his persistence was bizarrely endearing. The blonde intercepted Sasuke and stopped him in the doorway, by pulling at the back of his hoodie. "I need to get to know this area as well, I have no fucking clue where anything is, and I'll get my own key soon." Naruto released him.

Sasuke shrugged. "That's not my problem."

"Please, I'm asking you nicely here." Naruto reasoned, blue eyes still holding that self-assured glow of hope that made Sasuke want to squash and thrash it, just like his own hope for Naruto had been manipulated, twisted and destroyed by years and years of waiting. That anger and disappointment he had felt as a child didn't just go away.

"My brother already took you out once, and that chaos wasn't enough for you? Go back and play or something." Sasuke said darkly, now actually starting to feel bothered by it all, but mostly with himself for being unable to treat the blonde with some sense of normality. Something had been irking him more than usual, ever since yesterday morning when he had woken up in Naruto's bed. He didn't know anymore what freaked him out the most, waking up after actual good rest and being humped or having sexual dreams occur so soon afterwards. Sasuke knew he was being unfairly moody today, but he didn't care, it was all Naruto's fault for giving him weird dreams.

"But...I wanted to go out with _you_." Naruto pouted at him, chewing his bottom lip gently. So, so aggravating.

"Fuck off." Was the succinct reply, before Sasuke's frown turned into a full-on grimace when a sudden surge of anger spiralled. His black eyes had fallen on something in the blondes hand. It was a brown wig.

The stubborn blonde didn't let the other's mood swings deter him, he just continued to smile like nothing had been said. "Sasu-"

"Have you been going through my stuff?" Sasuke rudely cut off the beaming idiot whose smile slowly faded and the hand fell awkwardly from the back of his head as he looked down for a moment. The blonde looked up, and opened and closed his mouth like a fish.

The radiating anger grew. Sasuke hated a few things in this world with a passion, the list was actually quite long, but the main ones he could think of at the moment would be; People invading his privacy, Itachi, Retards, dirty things and of course, loud people. It so would happen that in the short time since Naruto's return, the blonde had involuntarily, _solely_, singularly managed to connect all five of these things.

"No, I just.."

"You fucking rummaged through my closet!" Sasuke thundered, pointing at the other accusingly. For a moment actually letting the book drop and just slopping the contents of his glass on Naruto, was close to becoming a reality. His grip had tightened, as he linked the incident with the noise he had heard when he was naked in the bedroom, and a different type of anger blended.

Naruto brilliant smile came to a screeching halt, and Sasuke could mentally hear the crash when Naruto's eyes narrowed in on his, pinning him in place and giving him an burning glare that seemed to make the hallway just a tiny bit colder, and Naruto's eyes take on a deep shade of crimson in the dim light (2). "Chill, I needed to find the swabber so I could clean up after you in the kitchen. You broke a glass full of juice and left it there to get all sticky overnight. It wasn't in the broom closet so I thought it might be in the extra closet next to your room. I swear I didn't touch your stuff."

"Then what is that in your hand?" It was difficult for Sasuke to contain himself, but an ominous feeling told him to lay low on the insults, Naruto's red eyes flickered back to blue and the emission of pressure and cold he had felt dimmed.

"Ohh!" Blue eyes widened and Naruto quickly held out the brown, medium-length wig. "Ye...well it fell out and then-"

"Save it." Sasuke hissed as he put down the glass and the book on the table. "Just leave."

That seemed to be what made the glass tip.

"God, you're fucking insufferable! No need to be such an asshole, I took it out for you so you can disguise yourself! I just wanted a chance to be with you, somewhere else than coped up in here all day! With you there's this _constant_ fucking tension, one moment you are almost nice to me, taking care of me even though I'm drunk and stupid and the next day you're either avoiding me or up in my face like you literally hate my guts. What the hell crawled up your ass today or will every day be like this one? I've only been nice to you and all you can do is fucking insult and walk away from me. Mind telling me what the hell your problem is? Because I'm NOT going to put up with it for much longer." Naruto's eyes burned with the same crushing aura as before, and Sasuke felt insanely cold, like he was freezing to death, whilst Naruto's body emitted so much heat that Sasuke was irresistibly tempted to scoot closer in hope of absorbing some of it. Somewhere in his pockets his phone bleeped with a new message. "Fucking jerk. I wish I could have stayed at Iruka's."

Naruto turned to leave, finally backing down in the light of his defeat.

Snapping out of it Sasuke's chest ached with a dull but familiar pain, one that had been carved into him, a warning signal that reminded him of how he had felt every single day for years and years. A voice inside Sasuke's head screamed at him to take action, demanding that he apologize to Naruto for going Godzilla mode. And before him, Naruto's retreating back disappeared out the door, with slumped shoulders and heavy steps.

Sasuke's world had stopped. And all he could hear was, the second bleep from his pocket.

Instinctively his arm moved on its own, digging into his pocket and pulling out the phone just as the third and last bleep highlighted the screen for Sasuke's dead eyes.

And just like that, time around him had started moving again.

"Naruto, stop!"

What hurt the most was that Sasuke could have said many worse things, but he had kept his replies short and concise to avoid those. Not to hurt Naruto. This discord between them, when had it started? Or perhaps, it never did. It could have been there from the beginning, little Naruto was just more shy and agreeable. Little Naruto had talked back to him, but never like this. Because back then, Sasuke had held the reigns. Sasuke had wanted Naruto's friendship. Sasuke had done the pulling as he truthfully...should still be doing. "Wait, Naruto!"

His feet were carrying him forward on their own to chase Naruto's shadow down the hallway, towards their rooms - and then Sasuke slowed down, feeling his heart pounding in his throat at the sight before him. Naruto_ had_ stopped up.

Stopped. Because Sasuke had called out to him.

Unlike his nightmares where Naruto dissolved, vaporized and disappeared between his fingers, this person was real. A tangible existence in his life, someone made of flesh and bone, who radiated strength and warmth, he could depend on.

Naruto's back was turned to him. "What do you want now?" A voice that was neither happy nor sad. It was conciliatory.

"Ok dobe, you win, let's go out. Hand me the wig." Sasuke said, and the pressure deflated, like a needle had punctured the aching bubble inside of him. The words had come out relatively easy - if he had known it would be this simple, would he have been more forward about it? Sasuke didn't know, but he felt that in time he might learn to be more forward and upfront - like Naruto.

Naruto finally turned to face Sasuke, with a cocked blonde eyebrow.

"Really? Was it a message from Itachi?"

Sasuke glowered. How the hell did the blonde idiot know?

Naruto smiled and Sasuke thought he looked like a fox, but it felt good to see mirth shining in those clear sky-blue eyes.

.

* * *

"Is it no good?"

Sasuke stared, and -

Naruto stared right back, with a gleam in his eyes.

"I think it's good, I can't tell who you are..." Naruto trailed off uncertainly as he tried to hold it in, but his tight - too wide - smile couldn't fool the dark eyes fixed on him. A perfect dark eyebrow arched distrustfully. He could no longer count on Naruto to tell him the truth.

Sasuke stared critically at the mirror, with an air of irritation, he had been standing there for a good twenty minutes, wearing outfit after outfit and although patient, at first, Naruto couldn't take it seriously anymore, and neither could Sasuke. "I may not be recognised but I could get arrested instead." Was Sasuke's wry reply.

The wig was a nice idea, but the long overcoat and the tinted black shades and _that_ fedora hat. All of it covered too much of him, to the point where it made him look like a flasher. Naruto laughed hollowly at his side, incapable of rendering any sincere support on the issue. Trying not to pay attention to the tingling in his back, he allowed the blonde to pull the hat off while, using his other hand to make sure the wig stayed in place.

Sasuke took the shades off and tried to fix the wig just a bit, it looked pretty natural - it was real human hair after all. Naruto had even given him that flirty wink that made Sasuke shrink away and informed the Uchiha that he had a thing for brunettes.

Naruto threw his hands up dramatically. "You've got a whole walk-in closet full of flashy clothes, even if we find something else, you're going to stick out like a sore thumb."

"It's fine," Sasuke grunted as he took the coat off, before the real retaliation came. "Whatever I wear will pale in comparison next to that disgustingly orange jacket of yours."

"Ass."  
.

* * *

Thirty minutes later the two flashy men, one orange and ridiculously happy, and the other dark and angry-looking walked down one of the side streets near the station. They had to jostle through the incoming sea of people, rushing home after a long day of work.

Sasuke never used the commuter trains, but decided to show Naruto for good measure - if not for using it as a means of transport, the train station was still a gathering point at the heart of Konoha, that was vital when giving directions or orientating oneself if you were lost. Naruto yawned, hardly listening but he covered it up with a quick smile, hoping Sasuke wouldn't take offense.

They were attracting an unnerving amount of stares from young girls and house wives alike. Naruto blamed it on Sasuke's glares that made people look away instantaneously, but it only had a temporary effect, it soon expired and they were back to stealing peaks now with budding curiosity. Something Naruto couldn't for the love of all toads understand. Next to him Sasuke was sending death glares at anyone who dared to meet his eyes, and apparently, that was all the raven had to do to keep people coming back for more.

"You're not scaring people off, Sasuke." Naruto finally dared to comment, tugging at his unzipped orange jacket and airing the loose black tee underneath as if he felt humid. It was no longer summer, but autumn wasn't as cold as he remembered. "They think your angry face is hot."

"It's not me they're looking at you idiot." The raven turned brunette kept his eyes on the ground for a bit, hiding his pale face behind perfect loose locks of dark brown.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head nervously. "I see, come with me then. I saw a corner shop over there, we really shouldn't walk around here during rush hour." Naruto said, apparently finally starting to take the threat of exposure more seriously.

Sasuke didn't say anything, he just followed Naruto's hasty steps down the cracked sidewalk. A Seven-Eleven appeared on the corner and it looked relatively empty. Unlike the packed streets full of pedestrians.

"Let's get a slushie!" Naruto exclaimed, leaving a slightly exhausted Sasuke to lean against a cooler, panting. "Teme! Have you got any money?"

Sasuke scowled, as his breath evened out, but after a moments of silence he dug into the depths of his pocket pulled out a few notes and handed them to Naruto.

"Thaaaanks!"

Finding a stool at the empty table near the window, Sasuke sat down and enjoyed the peace as Naruto filled the biggest plastic cup there was with a mixture of at least five different tastes. At the desk the cashier came out and Naruto talked animatedly with the brown-haired guy, for a whole minute or two. Sasuke's eye narrowed on the other man, with distaste, he was familiar.

"Wanna taste?" Naruto held out the weird slushie that looked like a sad colour accident. Sasuke would pass on that offer. "It's good."

"Is there a toilet here?" Sasuke asked. "I think the wig is coming off a bit on the side."

Naruto grumbled but pointed to somewhere over his shoulder. "There."

.

* * *

Sasuke quickly caught sight of Naruto absentmindedly sipping through his soft drink, with a magazine in his hands. Dark eyes narrowed in on the magazine, that was turned upside down, because Naruto wasn't really reading, he was sneaking peeks at guy behind the desk. Sasuke growled. "What are you doing?"

A foxy grin appeared on Naruto's face. "Undressing the cashier with my eyes." His blonde friend muttered enthralled, not even taking his eyes off of the prey to face Sasuke.

The cashier had messy brown hair, sharp eyes and his cheeks each sported a bright red triangle tattoo, Naruto was sold and ready to be shipped off right then and there. Meanwhile Sasuke paled in horror. The guy Naruto was looking at was his classmate, Inuzuka Kiba, a dog fanatic whose family owned the kennel at the other side of town. Before the blonde knew what hit him, his side stung painfully, and he turned to look at the owner of the offending elbow, solidly planted just under his ribs. "Ouch, that hurt, stupid teme!"

And that was how the fight began.

"We're leaving."

"Wait, Sasuke."

"No, we're leaving now."

"Hold up just a moment, let me get his number."

"You don't have a phone, dobe."

"Ah, I forgot. Guess I'll come back another time then."

"No, you won't."

"Oh, come on. Even you can tell he is attractive."

"..."

"Ok, so he's not _hot hot_ but he's cute, teme!"

"He smells like dog, there's nothing attractive or remotely cute about that."

.

* * *

Out on the street, Naruto was giving him a face that screamed loathe. "What the hell was that, pushing me out of the store like that!"

Sasuke had prepared his argument just in time. "He's my classmate, dobe. He could have recognised me."

Naruto scowled, but then dropped the mood, accepting Sasuke's reasoning. "You should have just told me."

"Didn't think that far, I panicked." Another lie.

Naruto gave him a dry look, "Well, because I'll be going to school with you tomorrow. I guess it's ok if you're classmates, I mean... I'll get a chance to properly introduce myself, so don't worry about it."

Silence ensued, till Sasuke snapped. "_What_?"

The blonde quirked an eyebrow at that reaction."Don't give me that look, what did you expect? I need education too."

Sasuke had stopped walking. "When did you start going to school?" His voice was quiet. A tinge of sadness hung in the air.

"I was homeschooled till seventh grade," Naruto said unabashed, trying to get a look at Sasuke, but the other had masked whatever was on his mind. So he asked. "Is there a problem with that?"

"No." His mask said.

Behind the mask however a twinge of annoyance, took small stabs at Sasuke as he battled the inevitable questions inside him. They were numerous, and now he really wondered, how they had been able to go on for days without talking much when there was so much to talk about. So what if Naruto had forgotten him? Sasuke hadn't even once bothered to ask about what Naruto _did_ remember.

Selfish as it was, one of the main causes of annoyance to him was the thought of other people having befriended Naruto with more ease than himself. Naruto had never told him, why he had been forced to leave, they had just sort of drifted over that because of all the misunderstandings. Maybe the whole reason he didn't ask, was because he secretly wanted Naruto to still be that small kid who refused to have friends. The child who had been exclusively his.

Naruto wasn't_ everyone's_.

'_Then whose is he_?' A strange voice probed him for answers. _'Yours?_'

Those soft sky blue eyes were looking at him with worry, but Sasuke couldn't smile, if anything he looked bitter. It occurred to him that there was a name for this feeling as well - it was jealousy.

Sasuke felt jealous. This seething jealousy, was like a black hole in his gut, threatening to swallow him up, any moment if he didn't watch out. And that was how Sasuke could add a sixth thing to the list of things he hated with a passion. He hated everything and everyone who had in some way, had a piece of Naruto for themselves, whilst Sasuke had been rotting up alone and...

A warm hand was on his shoulder. "I'll be counting on you, Sasuke." Naruto was smiling at him so radiantly that Sasuke couldn't help it, he was spellbound. He didn't do it on purpose. It wasn't deliberate when his arm had reached out, and pressed his palm against the other's cheek to feel if that skin really was as devastatingly smooth as it appeared to be.

_It was_.

Naruto had been standing still, and not reacted to his touch. Then the other shifted, blue eyes flickering with a deeper colour. Naruto suddenly looked startled by the gesture.

"Sasuke," A sun-kissed hand grabbed his, and the energy in the touch sent a wave of shock through his system, he knew outwardly that it hadn't affected him but, it inside it was a storm. "I think it's better if we don't touch."

His hand was pried away, but he instinctively gripped onto the arm, not wanting to sever the flow of energy he felt.

Red flashed.

Naruto's beautiful blue eyes had turned into a demonic, crimson red, and the pupils that were now narrow slits, pierced right through him, as if the other could see his soul. Sasuke felt a vague tremor go through him. His body trembled. His instincts were going haywire, begging him to withdraw his hand and back away.

So he did, reluctantly.

Their gaze broke and Sasuke closed his eyes as if seeing those _red eyes_ was painful. Why was Naruto's eyes red?

"Sasuke? Is everything ok with you?"

Yes, surely he was just tired. This was just another hallucination.

"Hn." He opened his eyes and looked.

Naruto's eyes weren't red, they were more blue than clear skies on a hot summer day. Like now.

_'See Sasuke, you aren't insane yet, you can tell reality from hallucination.'_

.

**TBC**

* * *

.

Hope you enjoyed, please review!

1) Naruto is only thinking 100 years back here. As in the last time he _reset his existence_.

2) Who has guessed what this means?

When I wrote this out I was doubtful as to whether the hints in this chapter was obvious enough, but some of you will probably be able to tell what happened, if you didn't catch on, then well, better luck next chapter :] Anyways, I hope you got a better understanding of Naruto and Kurama. And also, I'll be frank. So you've all noticed that Itachi affects Naruto's bond with Kurama by blocking him, but what about Sasuke? Although he doesn't block Kurama's powers he has another effect.

I apologise if the chapter had been confusing, but I thought it might fit the way Sasuke thinks, and boy oh boy, is he very very confused. I've fixed a few mistakes I saw here and there, but for some reason cuts some sentences in half so I apologise for that. It's happened a few times now.

**Sora**: (Omg omg omg, my first reviewer :D You gave me a big smile, srsly! My exams went well and I'm finally back to writing. You give some really good feedback, really, a lot of you do. I know that the past chapters can turn some people off but still you guys managed to find it interesting enough, I'm glad. It has been a concern of mine, so I put some extra effort into the background story to make up for it. I honestly don't leave cliffhangers on purpose xD xoxoxox)  
**Rei**:(I'm doing well ty :)) You guys will see more to Itachi, in the next chapter, and Naruto will have to make his first choice. Between the two. Both choices will be a bad one for either Kurama or Naruto. As I wrote, they both have 1 power over Naruto, but people have only noticed Itachi's influence on Naruto, what about Sasuke?)  
**Ovicati** (Haha, I'm glad you're enjoying the pulling and tugging. I never considered the sex part a turning point in this fic either, but the fact that they came to be together, after their continuous battles to resist the other.)  
**Killua17** (More Past life or more fluff? : D)  
**skyglazingMar**o (You're right, there's a reason he did it ;) And it may not be what any of you suspect, kekeke)  
**Guest** (Yeah, the last many chapters have been mainly from Naruto's pov, so let's see how people can handle Sasuke's, it might be confusing.)  
**AcinarYoko** (Yay, you like him :3 I always have fun writing Aoi(Sasuke) There's just something tempting about writing Sasuke that way.)  
**Ezkiel** (Sorry, another cliffie ._.)


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